Stellate Ganglion Block to Augment Trauma-focused Therapy Among Veterans With PTSD

March 27, 2023 updated by: Craig Bryan, Ohio State University
Our long-term goal is to improve clinical outcomes among patients receiving psychological treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The primary objective of this project is to examine if stellate ganglion block (SGB) improves outcomes among military personnel and veterans receiving cognitive processing therapy (CPT), an empirically-supported psychological treatment for PTSD. To accomplish this objective, we will enroll adult military personnel and veterans with a current diagnosis of PTSD and/or subthreshold PTSD, provide CPT sessions over two weeks, administer SGB during or after CPT, and repeatedly assess key outcomes during follow-up.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the most frequently diagnosed mental health condition among veterans (Tanielian & Jaycox, 2008), with estimated rates of the condition ranging from 5-20% (Hoge, Castro, et al., 2004; Hoge, Terhakopian, et al., 2007; Milliken, Auchterlonie, & Hoge, 2007; Tanielian & Jaycox, 2008). PTSD is not just a consequence of combat, however; many military personnel and veterans experience noncombat-related traumas such as sexual assault and domestic abuse, or have histories of early life trauma such as child abuse that can also contribute to PTSD. Regardless of the associated event, PTSD is associated with a host of functional problems and negative outcomes among military personnel including occupational and marital dissatisfaction, violence, alcohol and substance abuse, and suicide (Hoge et al., 2004; Jakupcak et al., 2007; Panagioti, Gooding, & Tarrier, 2009).

Cognitive behavioral treatments are the most highly efficacious treatments for PTSD. Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is one such treatment that has garnered a significant amount of empirical support, with a recent metaanalysis showing it was the most effective treatment for PTSD (Watts et al., 2013), typically yielding a 50% or larger reduction in PTSD symptoms from pre- to posttreatment. Despite CPT's effectiveness, a significant percentage of military veterans continue to experience moderate to severe symptoms afterwards, and nearly half continue to meet full criteria for the diagnosis (Harik, Grubbs, & Schnurr, 2016). Novel strategies for improving treatment outcomes are therefore needed.

Accumulating evidence supports the effectiveness of stellate ganglion block (SGB) for the treatment of PTSD. SGB is a procedure in which an injection of a long-acting local anesthetic, using ultrasound or fluoroscopic guidance, is made in the right side of the neck around the cervical sympathetic chain that controls the "fight or flight" response (the sympathetic nervous system). The cervical sympathetic chain is a two-way conduit that connects the parts of the brain that control the fight or flight response to the rest of the body. By blocking or "turning off" the cervical sympathetic chain, it is believed that the parts of the brain that control the fight or flight response are allowed to completely reset, resulting in long-term relief of the associated anxiety symptoms. Originally developed for the treatment of pain conditions, multiple case series have shown that right-sided SGB is associated with significant reductions in PTSD symptoms after SGB (Alino et al., 2013; Hickey et al., 2012; Lipov et al., 2008; Mulvaney et al., 2010, 2014), especially negative mood and hyperarousal symptoms (Lynch et al., 2016). Results of a recent randomized controlled trial in which SGB was compared to sham treatment further support the procedure's efficacy (Olmsted et al., 2019). In that study, PTSD symptom reduction in the SGB group was twice as large as the sham group. Research also supports SGB's safety and acceptability among patients with combat-related PTSD (McLean, 2015).

To date, however, the effectiveness of SGB when delivered in combination with first-line PTSD treatments like CPT has not been examined. The present study is designed to examine this issue from two perspectives. First, we will examine if the administration of SGB during CPT leads to larger reductions in PTSD symptoms as compared to CPT alone. Second, we will examine if the administration of SGB after CPT leads to significant reductions in PTSD symptoms among veterans who continue to experience moderate to severe symptoms after completing the therapy. To achieve this the study entails a single-blind, randomized clinical trial with wait list control. All participants will receive cognitive processing therapy (CPT), an empirically-supported psychological (non-medication) treatment for PTSD. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive stellate ganglion block (SGB) treatment at one of two time points: (1) during CPT or (2) three months after completing CPT. Outcomes will be assessed repeatedly for six months postbaseline.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

80

Phase

  • Phase 2

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 Locations

  • United States
    • Ohio
      • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43210
        • Recruiting
        • The Ohio State University
        • Contact:
          • Craig J Bryan, PsyD
          • Phone Number: 614-366-2314

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:

  • 18 years of age or older
  • Prior or current service in the U.S. military
  • Diagnosis of PTSD within the last month
  • Ability to speak and understand the English language
  • Stable psychotropic medication dosing for at least 3 months
  • Ability to complete the informed consent process

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Prior SGB treatment or CPT treatment
  • History of schizophrenia, another psychotic disorder, or bipolar disorder
  • Moderate or severe traumatic brain injury
  • Moderate or severe symptoms of a substance use disorder within the preceding 30 days
  • Severe suicide risk warranting suicide-focused treatment and/or inpatient hospitalization
  • Impaired mental status that precludes the ability to provide informed consent
  • Any ongoing stressor or condition deemed by the investigators to place the participant at risk for injury or a poor outcome

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: Sequential Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Stellate ganglion block (SGB) treatment during cognitive processing therapy (CPT)
Participants will receive 12 sessions of cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for PTSD combined with SGB during the first week of CPT.
Behavioral: Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) is a specific type of cognitive behavioral therapy that has been effective in reducing symptoms of PTSD that have developed after experiencing a variety of traumatic events including child abuse, combat, rape and natural disasters. CPT is generally delivered over 12 sessions and helps patients learn how to challenge and modify unhelpful beliefs related to the trauma. In so doing, the patient creates a new understanding and conceptualization of the traumatic event so that it reduces its ongoing negative effects on current life. This treatment is strongly recommended for the treatment of PTSD.
Drug: Stellate Ganglion Block
SGB is a procedure that has demonstrated efficacy for the reduction of PTSD symptoms. SGB is performed using real-time ultrasonography with an in-plane technique, and consists of 7-10 mL of ropivacaine 0.5%, which is injected around and into the site of the ganglion at the level of the C4 and C6 anterior tubercle (Mulvaney, Curtis et al., 2020). Ropivacaine is a long-acting amide local anesthetic agent and a pure S-enantiomer with a high pKa and relatively low solubility. Patients are not sedated during the procedure. Successful sympathetic blockade is confirmed by the presence of Horner's syndrome, which is characterized by constriction of the pupil (miosis) and drooping of the upper eyelid (ptosis). If Horner's syndrome is not observed within 20 minutes of the first injection, the right-sided SGB is repeated one hour later using the same technique. If Horner's syndrome is not confirmed after the second injection, no additional injections are provided.
Experimental: SGB three months after completing CPT
Participant will receive 12 sessions of cognitive processing therapy (CPT) for PTSD and will receive SGB three months after completing the CPT sessions.
Behavioral: Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
Cognitive processing therapy (CPT) is a specific type of cognitive behavioral therapy that has been effective in reducing symptoms of PTSD that have developed after experiencing a variety of traumatic events including child abuse, combat, rape and natural disasters. CPT is generally delivered over 12 sessions and helps patients learn how to challenge and modify unhelpful beliefs related to the trauma. In so doing, the patient creates a new understanding and conceptualization of the traumatic event so that it reduces its ongoing negative effects on current life. This treatment is strongly recommended for the treatment of PTSD.
Drug: Stellate Ganglion Block
SGB is a procedure that has demonstrated efficacy for the reduction of PTSD symptoms. SGB is performed using real-time ultrasonography with an in-plane technique, and consists of 7-10 mL of ropivacaine 0.5%, which is injected around and into the site of the ganglion at the level of the C4 and C6 anterior tubercle (Mulvaney, Curtis et al., 2020). Ropivacaine is a long-acting amide local anesthetic agent and a pure S-enantiomer with a high pKa and relatively low solubility. Patients are not sedated during the procedure. Successful sympathetic blockade is confirmed by the presence of Horner's syndrome, which is characterized by constriction of the pupil (miosis) and drooping of the upper eyelid (ptosis). If Horner's syndrome is not observed within 20 minutes of the first injection, the right-sided SGB is repeated one hour later using the same technique. If Horner's syndrome is not confirmed after the second injection, no additional injections are provided.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in PTSD symptom severity
Time Frame: Screening, Week 0, Week 1, Week 2, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12, Week 13, Week 14, Week 16, Week 20, Week 24, Week 52
PTSD symptom severity will be assessed using PTSD PCL-5. The scale includes 20 items that rate the severity of each symptom using a 5-point scale, with items summed to provide an overall metric of PTSD symptom severity.
Screening, Week 0, Week 1, Week 2, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12, Week 13, Week 14, Week 16, Week 20, Week 24, Week 52

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in depression symptom severity
Time Frame: Screening, Week 0, Week 1, Week 2, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12, Week 13, Week 14, Week 16, Week 20, Week 24, Week 52
Severity will be measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). The scale includes 9 items that rate the severity of each symptom using a 4-point scale, with items summed to provide an overall metric of depression symptom severity.
Screening, Week 0, Week 1, Week 2, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12, Week 13, Week 14, Week 16, Week 20, Week 24, Week 52
Change in anxiety symptom severity
Time Frame: Screening, Week 0, Week 1, Week 2, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12, Week 13, Week 14, Week 16, Week 20, Week 24, Week 52
Severity will be measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale. The scale includes 7 items that rate the severity of each symptom using a 4-point scale, with items summed to provide an overall metric of anxiety symptom severity.
Screening, Week 0, Week 1, Week 2, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12, Week 13, Week 14, Week 16, Week 20, Week 24, Week 52
Change in somatic symptoms
Time Frame: Screening, Week 0, Week 1, Week 2, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12, Week 13, Week 14, Week 16, Week 20, Week 24, Week 52
Symptoms will be measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15). The PHQ-15 is designed to assess the severity of 15 somatic/physical symptoms using a 3-point scale. Items can be summed to provide an overall metric of somatic symptoms and side effects.
Screening, Week 0, Week 1, Week 2, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12, Week 13, Week 14, Week 16, Week 20, Week 24, Week 52
Change in good end-state functioning
Time Frame: Screening, Week 0, Week 1, Week 2, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12, Week 13, Week 14, Week 16, Week 20, Week 24, Week 52
Good end-state functioning is defined as having very low symptoms of both PTSD and depression, and is operationalized as a PCL-5 total score < 20 and a PHQ-9 total score < 10. It will be measured using a combination of these scores.
Screening, Week 0, Week 1, Week 2, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12, Week 13, Week 14, Week 16, Week 20, Week 24, Week 52

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Ohio State University

Collaborators

The Stellate Institute
Navy SEAL Foundation

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Craig J Bryan, PsyD, Ohio State University

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)

January 3, 2022

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

November 1, 2024

Study Completion (Anticipated)

November 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 14, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 25, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

November 4, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 28, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 27, 2023

Last Verified

March 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2021H0228

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Researchers interested in using IPD and/or computer code collected or generated as part of this study may do so by contacting the study PI. Researchers will be asked to complete a Data Use Request Form, which includes contact information, description of the research project for which the data and/or code would be used, specification of which data and/or code would be needed for their proposed project, an approximate time line for their proposed project, and authorship on their proposed project.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Starting 6 months after publication of primary results

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

All requests for data and/or code use will be reviewed by the PIs and co-Is and a majority vote will be used to determine whether the request is approved or not. If the request is approved, Dr. Bryan will inform the requestor, return a signed copy of the completed Data Use Request Form to the requestor, and let the requestor know that written IRB approval of the requestor's proposed study from the requestor's home institution will be required before data and/or code will be shared with the requestor. If a request is approved pending revision to the Data Use Request Form, Dr. Bryan will work with requestors to revise sections of their Data Use Request Forms in order to obtain approval. If the request is not approved, Dr. Bryan will inform the requestor and returned a signed copy of the completed Data Use Request Form to the requestor that includes an explanation for the denial.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ICF

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

Yes

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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