- ICH GCP
- US Clinical Trials Registry
- Clinical Trial NCT01801891
Surface NeuroMuscular Electrical Stimulation in the Treatment of Chronic Venous Leg Ulcers
Surface NeuroMuscular Electrical Stimulation in the Treatment of Chronic Venous Leg Ulcers: A Randomised Controlled Trial of the "VASGARD" Device
Study Overview
Status
Conditions
Intervention / Treatment
Detailed Description
With an increasingly ageing population the incidence of venous ulceration is likely to rise. The negative impact of leg ulceration on patients' quality of life and on healthcare costs is well recognised. Increased prevalence combined with poor reported healing rates and high incidence of ulcer recurrence makes the development of a new treatment which could accelerate healing rates beyond that currently achieved using compression bandaging most desirable. Surface neuromuscular electrical stimulation in combination with compression bandaging may provide such a treatment.
Surface neuromuscular electrical stimulation (SNMES) is the application of an electrical stimulus to motor points in the body using electrodes placed on the surface of the skin to elicit a muscular contraction. It has been shown that SNMES of the calf muscles, when used in conjunction with compression therapy, provides improved venous flow velocities over compression therapy alone. Furthermore, the week-long effect of SNMES and compression therapy on healthy participants was found to be well tolerated by all participants and resulted in increases in stimulated venous flow and muscle strength. A combined SNMES and compression treatment protocol which stimulates peripheral venous blood flow may help to alleviate harmful venous pressures in venous leg ulcer patients and provide some degree of strengthening of the calf muscles, thus helping to accelerate the healing rates of venous ulcers.
Study Type
Enrollment (Actual)
Phase
- Phase 2
Contacts and Locations
Study Locations
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Galway, Ireland, 000
- Department of Electronic Engineering, National University Ireland Galway
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Limerick, Ireland, 000
- Midwestern Regional Hospital
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Participation Criteria
Eligibility Criteria
Ages Eligible for Study
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Genders Eligible for Study
Description
Inclusion Criteria:
- Primary or recurrent venous leg ulcer.
- Ankle-brachial pressure index > 0.8
- Ulcer size between 1 and 200 cm2
- Patient suitable for full compression bandaging
Exclusion Criteria:
- History of symptomatic heart disease.
- Pregnancy
- Presence of implants in the lower leg or a pacemaker
- History of a neurological disorder
- Presence of any contraindications for the use of compression stockings such as severe arterial disease i.e. Ankle brachial pressure index (ABPI) <0.8
- Presence of cognitive difficulties which may prevent the patient or his/her carer from using the stimulator appropriately.
- Patients unable to provide informed consent
- Patients receiving dialysis
- Patients receiving steroids
- Patients receiving methotrexate
- Ulcer located in the area of electrode placement
- Patients in reduced compression bandaging system
Study Plan
How is the study designed?
Design Details
- Primary Purpose: Treatment
- Allocation: Randomized
- Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
- Masking: Double
Arms and Interventions
Participant Group / Arm |
Intervention / Treatment |
---|---|
Active Comparator: Control group
Patients randomised to the control group will, in addition to their routine compression bandaging, be given muscle stimulators for home use and instructed to apply 3x 30 minute sessions of comfortable electrical stimulation daily for 12 weeks.
The stimulators given to the control group will be set to provide minimal stimulation resulting in no visible muscular contraction.
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Compression bandaging systems apply graduated external pressure to the lower limb to promote venous return to the heart reducing venous hypertension and thereby facilitate venous ulcer healing.
Other Names:
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Experimental: VASGARD stimulator
Patients randomised to this group, in addition to their routine treatment with compression bandaging, will be given muscle stimulators for home use and instructed to apply 3x 30 minute sessions of comfortable electrical stimulation daily for 12 weeks.
The intervention group stimulators will be capable of causing muscular contraction with a maximum force ranging from 30-40% of voluntary contractions.
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Compression bandaging systems apply graduated external pressure to the lower limb to promote venous return to the heart reducing venous hypertension and thereby facilitate venous ulcer healing.
Other Names:
The VASGARD device is a 2 channel muscle stimulator system designed for increasing venous blood flow.
Controlled electrical stimuli are delivered to the patient through adhesive gel electrodes placed over the motor points of muscles on the lower leg.
This elicits artificial muscular contractions which in turn increases lower limb venous haemodynamics.
Other Names:
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What is the study measuring?
Primary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
---|---|---|
Reduction in venous ulcer size
Time Frame: 12 weeks
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Reduction in relative ulcer size (area) for each patient over time, standardised to an initial size of 1, will be measured weekly.
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12 weeks
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Secondary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
---|---|---|
Acceptability of surface neuromuscular electrical stimulation
Time Frame: 12 weeks
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Patient and healthcare provider perceptions of the acceptability, efficacy and tolerability of the device will be evaluated through a series of semi-structured interviews
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12 weeks
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Other Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
---|---|---|
Changes in skin condition related to the application of Vasgard surface neuromuscular electrical stimulator as a measure of safety and tolerability.
Time Frame: 12 weeks
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The safety issues associated with using electrical stimulation on this patient group under compression bandaging will be evaluated. The following safety points will be evaluated at each visit.
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12 weeks
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Collaborators and Investigators
Sponsor
Investigators
- Principal Investigator: Pierce A Grace, MCh FRCSI, HSE
Study record dates
Study Major Dates
Study Start
Primary Completion (Actual)
Study Completion (Actual)
Study Registration Dates
First Submitted
First Submitted That Met QC Criteria
First Posted (Estimate)
Study Record Updates
Last Update Posted (Estimate)
Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria
Last Verified
More Information
Terms related to this study
Keywords
Additional Relevant MeSH Terms
Other Study ID Numbers
- VASGARD2013
Drug and device information, study documents
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product
product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.
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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