- ICH GCP
- US Clinical Trials Registry
- Clinical Trial NCT03631251
Using Honest Placebos to Improve Pain Management in Hand Surgery Patients
Enhancing Analgesia With Non-Deceptive Placebos: A Proof-Of-Concept Pilot Study
America is in the midst of an opioid epidemic. One of the reasons opioid addiction and overdose deaths have recently increased is that doctors are frequently prescribing opioid medication as a treatment for pain. If it is possible to develop new ways of increasing the pain-relief patients experience from a set amount of opioids, then doctors might ultimately be able to prescribe fewer opioid medications, which could help curb the opioid crisis.
Although "placebos," a medication whose benefit derives solely from positive psychological factors rather than pharmacological factors, are often disparaged in medicine, research suggests that placebos can actually help reduce pain. In fact, there is reason to think that placebos are effective even when a patient knows they are taking a placebo.
The goal of the proposed study is to examine the feasibility of using an honest placebo to relieve pain for up to 20 real patients. People who are undergoing hand or wrist surgery or enrolled for upper extremity trauma in the Emergency Department and agree to participate will be asked to take placebo pills in addition to their standard course of opioid pills, given as part of standard care. Patients will also answer a few short questions over the phone once per day for seven days, and be invited to participate in an exit questionnaire at the end of the study. The investigators hypothesize that: 1) At least 50% of eligible participants will agree to enroll, 2) At least 80% of participants who are enrolled will be retained, and 3) Participants who are enrolled will take a placebo at least 50% of the time they also take an opioid pill
Study Overview
Study Type
Enrollment (Actual)
Phase
- Early Phase 1
Contacts and Locations
Study Locations
-
-
Rhode Island
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East Providence, Rhode Island, United States, 02915
- University Orthopedics
-
Providence, Rhode Island, United States, 02906
- Miriam Hospital
-
-
Participation Criteria
Eligibility Criteria
Ages Eligible for Study
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Genders Eligible for Study
Description
Inclusion Criteria, University Orthopedics & Department of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery:
- 18 years or older
- English Speaking
- Have a working phone
- Scheduled for hand or wrist surgery
- Able to provide informed consent Inclusion Criteria, Miriam Hospital Emergency Department
- 18 years or older
- English Speaking
- Have a working phone
- Able to provide informed consent
- Present for upper extremity trauma
- Are expected to be prescribed opioids at discharge
- Are expected to be discharged from the Emergency Department
Exclusion Criteria, University Orthopedics & Department of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery::
- Known history of Substance Use Disorder
- Chronic pain
- Chronic opioid use
- The prescribing physician deems opioid medication not appropriate as part of standard care for any reason Exclusion Criteria, Miriam Hospital Emergency Department
- Known history of Substance Use Disorder
- Chronic pain
- Chronic opioid use
- Unlikely to follow-up (discretion of investigator and treating provider)
- Likely to receive surgical repair of the indicated injury
Study Plan
How is the study designed?
Design Details
- Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
- Allocation: NA
- Interventional Model: SINGLE_GROUP
- Masking: NONE
Arms and Interventions
Participant Group / Arm |
Intervention / Treatment |
---|---|
EXPERIMENTAL: Open Placebo
Open placebo in addition to the standard course of opioids.
Opioids are given consistent with standard care.
|
Open placebo in addition to the standard course of opioids.
Opioids are given consistent with standard care.
|
What is the study measuring?
Primary Outcome Measures
Outcome Measure |
Measure Description |
Time Frame |
---|---|---|
Enrollment Percentage
Time Frame: Through study enrollment, 1 day
|
Percentage of Eligible Patients who Enroll
|
Through study enrollment, 1 day
|
Retention Rate
Time Frame: through study completion, approximately 2 months
|
Percentage of Patients who are Retained at follow-up
|
through study completion, approximately 2 months
|
Placebo Intake
Time Frame: 7 days
|
Number of Placebos Participants Take
|
7 days
|
Placebo Analgesia
Time Frame: 7 days
|
Analgesia associated with placebo pills
|
7 days
|
Collaborators and Investigators
Sponsor
Collaborators
Study record dates
Study Major Dates
Study Start (ACTUAL)
Primary Completion (ACTUAL)
Study Completion (ACTUAL)
Study Registration Dates
First Submitted
First Submitted That Met QC Criteria
First Posted (ACTUAL)
Study Record Updates
Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)
Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria
Last Verified
More Information
Terms related to this study
Other Study ID Numbers
- IRB00000556
Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)
Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?
Drug and device information, study documents
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product
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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