Neurophysiologic Signatures of Trigeminal Neuralgia Pain

October 5, 2022 updated by: University of Florida

Mapping Towards a Cure - Identification of Neurophysiologic Signatures of Trigeminal Neuralgia Pain

Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is an idiopathic pain disorder that is characterized by episodic attacks of intense facial pain, described as paroxysms of stabbing, electric, or explosive pain, and lasting for a few seconds or longer, often producing a tic-like facial movement, and can occur up to hundreds of times per day. This pain is known to be one of the worst pain conditions that a patient can suffer and has been called the "suicide disease". Given the severity of this disorder, determining the cause becomes essential for finding a cure. This project will study the cause of TN using a translational approach, which means the research project will be completed in both humans and animals. The investigators hypothesize that there are specific areas of the brain and spinal cord that will provide a "signature" center of activity. The study team will use state of the art magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines and other non-invasive brain activity measurements, including electroencephalography (EEG) to locate these centers in people with TN before and after their pain has started. Recent studies have investigated the effects of transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) for pain control. Transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) includes transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). This approach is important because identifying similar regions neural activity will allow for us to study novel therapies in search of the cure for TN and this study has thus both basic and clinical neuroscience significance.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is an extremely painful and highly disabling orofacial pain disorder, often referred to as the "suicide disease," for which presently available therapies are largely ineffective or inadequate. Both the unpredictable response to treatment and variability in long-term clinical outcomes in TN strongly suggest that a range of peripheral and central mechanisms remain to be understood. The long-term goal is to identify the mechanisms involved in the initiation and progression of TN, and uncover rational targets for the safe and effective treatment of TN. The objective of this application is to explore the use of multimodal neuroimaging and neurophysiologic techniques in defining neural signatures of the disease. Additionally, the study team wants to evaluate the efficacy of transcranial electrical stimulation on relieving pain. The rationale for the proposed research is that identification of signature peripheral and central activation sites will allow for individualized treatment strategies for TN patients.

To modulate brain activities the investigators will use transcranial electrical stimulation (tES). tES is an emerging neuromodulation technique that can be noninvasively and safely applied in humans. tES can help better understand the causal roles of brain networks and brain activities and has shown efficacy in improving pain. tES has two main variations: transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). The former applies a weak direct current to the scalp whereas the latter applies a weak sinusoidal current to the scalp. tDCS can modulate the excitability of tissues under the stimulating electrodes. tACS is particularly suited for interacting with various oscillatory activities in the brain. tES has been used to study normal brain function and treat neurological and pain disorders as well. There is demonstrated efficacy in improvement of pain in subjects suffering from fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain. The study team will use different tDCS/tACS montages targeting different brain regions and observe behavior and neuronal activities. The current strength will be within 1mA or 2mA which has been shown to be safe and effective.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

61

Phase

  • Not Applicable

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
    • Florida
      • Gainesville, Florida, United States, 32610
        • UF Health Shands Hospital
      • Gainesville, Florida, United States, 32611
        • McKnight Brain 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

16 years to 73 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Healthy subjects who have been diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia (TN) pain (ASA status 1, 2, or 3).
  • Subjects diagnosed with TN pain must have average pain in the moderate to severe (Visual Analog Scale (VAS) of 30-100 mm) range. These subjects will be asked to stop their current medications for 24 hours prior to their scan.
  • Patients diagnosed with classical trigeminal neuralgia, type 1 [TN1, G50.00], or symptomatic trigeminal neuralgia [TN2, G53.80] according to the International Classification of Headache (IHS) Disorders criteria (7).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients diagnosed with post-herpetic neuralgia, trigeminal neuropathic pain, and trigeminal deafferentation pain.
  • TN subjects with ASA status 4-5 and Emergency operation.
  • Presence of chronic disease (e.g. cardiovascular disease, liver disease, kidney disease, diabetes, etc.), other than trigeminal neuralgia.
  • Pregnant females

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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Trigeminal Neuralgia Pain Diagnosis
Healthy patients between the ages of 18-75 who have been diagnosed with moderate to severe Trigeminal Neuralgia Pain. The study team will perform transcranial electrical brain stimulation using either electrodes that are in the form of two salt-water soaked sponges attached to the head or a set of smaller gel-covered disk electrodes that fit inside the electrode holders of the EEG cap. During stimulation a weak direct or alternating current will be passed through the stimulating electrodes. Stimulation may last 20 to 30 minutes.
Procedure: transcranial electrical brain stimulation
Pain ratings will be recorded before and after transcranial brain electrical stimulation procedures using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS).
Other Names:
  • tES

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Effects of transcranial electrical stimulating (tES) on pain.
Time Frame: Day 1
Pain will be measured by subjects using a visual analog scale (VAS). The VAS is a psychometric measuring instrument presented as a 100-mm horizontal line anchored on one end with the words "no pain at all" which is 0 and at the other end with the words "worst pain imaginable" which is 100. Subjects will be asked to rate their pain on the VAS from 0-100 once before the stimulation and again after the stimulation is complete. The two scores will be compared to see if there is any reduction in subject's pain after the stimulation.
Day 1

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Florida

Collaborators

Facial Pain Research Foundation

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: John K Neubert, DDS, MS, University of Florida

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 (Actual)

February 1, 2019

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 12, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

May 12, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 11, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 13, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

December 19, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 6, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 5, 2022

Last Verified

October 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • TNP001

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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