Occipital Nerve Stimulation to Treat Chronic Headaches

September 4, 2008 updated by: Boston Scientific Corporation

Multicenter Feasibility Study of the Bion for Occipital Nerve Stimulation for Treatment of Chronic Headaches

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a implantable device, called the bion(R), in the treatment of chronic headache. The bion microstimulator is placed underneath the skin next to the greater occipital nerve. The bion microstimulator then stimulates the nerve by generating small amounts of electrical current.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Chronic migraine and chronic cluster headaches are among the most disabling medical illnesses, inflicting severe functional impairment. These headache subtypes are particularly resistant to current treatment modalities, with the majority of chronic migraine patients continuing to experience frequent or near-daily headaches despite aggressive, multidisciplinary, and multimodal therapy. The refractory nature of these illnesses and the level of devastation they inflict on the lives of their victims has motivated the pursuit of novel treatment approaches.

Direct stimulation of the greater occipital nerve has been shown to alleviate the symptoms of chronic migraine and chronic cluster headaches in a small number of patients.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

20

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Arizona
      • Scottsdale, Arizona, United States, 85259
        • Mayo Clinic
    • Michigan
      • Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, 48104
        • Michigan Head Pain & Neurological Institute

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Be diagnosed with chronic migraine, probable chronic migraine, and/or chronic cluster headache according to the 2004 IHS Classification Criteria (2nd ed.) or be diagnosed with migraine with or without aura
  2. Be 18 years of age or older
  3. Be willing and able to follow all study-related procedures during the course of the study;
  4. Have exhibited refractoriness to two acute medication regimens and two prophylactic medications from two separate preventative classes.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Have received a botulinum toxin (botox) injection for treatment of headache within the last 90 days;
  2. Have previously undergone destructive ganglionectomy affecting C2/C3 occipital and/or trigeminal distribution or have an occipital blockade currently in effect;
  3. Have had a previous surgery in the intended implant area;
  4. Have Arnold-Chiari malformation;
  5. Have participated within the last 30 days or plan to participate within the next 4 months in a device or drug trial;
  6. Be pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant during the study period;
  7. Have an implanted electrical device (e.g., pacemaker, spinal cord stimulator) that may interfere with this therapy; and
  8. Currently require, or be likely to require, MRI or diathermy.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
The primary safety measure is the incidence of major complications, defined as device or procedure related major adverse events that require medical and surgical intervention.
The primary efficacy measure is a significant reduction in the frequency, severity or duration of the headaches from the preoperative to the three-month follow-up period.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Boston Scientific Corporation

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

January 1, 2004

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 1, 2006

Study Completion (Actual)

September 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 13, 2005

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 15, 2005

First Posted (Estimate)

September 21, 2005

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

September 5, 2008

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 4, 2008

Last Verified

August 1, 2008

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CR-B-003

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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