Cervical Plexus Hydrodissection With D5W for PTSD

January 24, 2026 updated by: Dr. Dean Reeves, Dr. Dean Reeves Clinic

Cervical Plexus Hydrodissection With D5W for PTSD Versus Delayed Treatment/Usual Care

PTSD is a chronic mental health condition that drastically reduces an individual's quality of life Dextrose injection with a small needle has been used for chronic pain patients and observational results have shown it to be effective in reducing anxiety, brain fog, and depression in patients with PTSD. This randomized trial will compare dextrose injection with a delayed/usual treatment control.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

PTSD is a well-recognized debilitating mental health condition associated with previous trauma exposure. It is part of the DSM-5 Trauma and Stressor related disorders category. Treatments for PTSD normally involve a multi-disciplinary approach. First-line treatments include psychotherapy and serotonergic reuptake inhibitors. Many patients fail pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy. Unilateral stellate ganglion block performed favorably for treatment of PTSD in a recent RCT, based upon an expectation that the cervical sympathetic system is neuropathically upregulated in PTSD. However, inclusion of lidocaine requires the presence of an emergency response team due to the potential for inadvertent intravascular injection with generalized seizures or hypotension, and inadvertent laryngeal or phrenic nerve block. Perineural injection of peripheral nerves, plexi, or sympathetic ganglia with dextrose 5% in water (D5W), has performed well empirically in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. No lidocaine is utilized, which allows for avoidance of lidocaine toxicity risk, or any risk of nerve block. Because of that, bilateral procedures are feasible, and these procedures can be performed in any outpatient office with ultrasound availability, as emergency team backup is not necessary, making the procedure readily accessible. A cumulative benefit has been observed, as well. The effects of BHDCP with D5W as a stand-alone treatment for PTSD has not been formally evaluated. This small study is designed as a feasibility study with study acceptance rate, protocol adherence, and satisfaction as primary outcomes. Secondary outcomes will include short term and long-term effects of BHDCP with D5W on the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Check List for Civilians (PCL-C), The primary hypotheses are that the acceptance rate and protocol adherence will both exceed 80%, and satisfaction will be 6/10 or higher on a 0-10 satisfaction scale. A study size of 24 is planned, based on power analysis.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

24

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 Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Kentucky
      • Lexington, Kentucky, United States, 40509
        • Recruiting
        • Danesh Mazloomdoost
        • Contact:
    • Oregon
      • Portland, Oregon, United States, 87213
      • Tigard, Oregon, United States, 97224
    • Wisconsin
      • Madison, Wisconsin, United States, 53719

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

19 years to 90 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Not involved in another study of PTSD treatment
  • Reliable transportation
  • Comfortable with computers
  • Tried 2 or more medications for treatment of PTSD symptoms
  • Tried 2 or more non-medication treatments for PTSD symptom
  • No known life-threatening illness
  • Not taking daily narcotics
  • Not having 3or more alcoholic drinks on an average day
  • No active suicidal plans
  • No major surgery plans
  • No major life stress that might interfere with completing study
  • Symptoms for more than 1 year
  • Not planning to move for next 18 months.
  • Living within an hour of Portlland, OR, Madison, WI, or Lexington, KY
  • Wiling to provide 2 email and 2 phone contact methods
  • Willing to answer questions on multiple occasions over the course of a year.
  • Willing to be assigned to 3 months of usual care treatment
  • No diagnosis of schizophrenia, Borderline Personality Disorder, or Bipolar Disorder.
  • No severe needle phobia
  • Chronic pain ≤ 5/10
  • PCL-C score ≥ 50

Exclusion Criteria: None separate from inclusion criteria

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: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Waiting period with usual care
All helpful treatment methods already underway are continued. Other new treatment methods are discouraged.
Procedure: Waiting period with usual care
Same as previous group description
Experimental: BCPHD-D5W with usual care

Bilateral cervical plexus hydrodissection with D5W (BCPHD-D5W) at 0, 2, 4, and 8 weeks.

All helpful treatment methods already underway are continued. Other new treatment methods are discouraged.
Procedure: BCPHD with D5W
D5W is injected under the investing fascia of the sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM) using ultrasound guidance in order to infiltrate the space containing the cervical plexus. This is performed on both sides.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Consent rate
Time Frame: 3 months
Percentage consent rate for qualifying participants
3 months
Data Capture rate
Time Frame: 3 months
Percentage data capture
3 months
Satisfaction rating
Time Frame: 3 months
Satisfaction with treatment outcome as measured by a 0-10 Numerical Rating Scale (NRS)
3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
PCL-C Score
Time Frame: 3 months
Improvement (reduction) in PTSD check list for civilians
3 months
HADS scale
Time Frame: 3 months
Improvement in the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
3 months
EuroQOL 0-100
Time Frame: 3 months
0-100 rating of quality of life
3 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Cost Efficiency
Time Frame: 0 to 52 weeks
Cost per improvement in PCL-C, HADS and EuroQOL
0 to 52 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Dr. Dean Reeves Clinic

Collaborators

Paul Johnson, D.O.
Eric Phillippi, M.D.
Ryan Wood, N.D.
Danesh Mazloomdoost

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Kenneth D Reeves, M.D., Dr. Dean Reeves Clinic

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)

July 10, 2023

Primary Completion (Estimated)

October 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

October 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 4, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 4, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

June 9, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 27, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 24, 2026

Last Verified

January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • DextrosePTSD1

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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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