Efficacy of Different Nerve Stimulation Methods in Individuals With Chronic Constipation

July 9, 2024 updated by: hazal genc, Istanbul Medipol University Hospital
Constipation is the most common digestive complaint in the general population. Normal stool frequency ranges from at least three times a week to a maximum of two times a day. Constipation can be classified into three main groups as constipation with normal transit time, constipation with slow transit time and dyssynergic defecation disorders.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

In chronic constipation, treatment should be directed towards the underlying cause. In the treatment of chronic constipation, lifestyle changes and physiotherapy are in the first place, pharmacological treatment is in the second place, and surgical treatment is in the third place. Physiotherapy modalities such as defecation training, classical massage, electrical stimulation, anorectal biofeedback and exercise training can be used in the treatment of chronic constipation.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

16

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

  • Turkey
      • Istanbul, Turkey, 34070
        • Medipol hospital
    • Istanbul Avrupa Kitasi
      • Istanbul, Istanbul Avrupa Kitasi, Turkey, 34353
        • Medipol hospital

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion criteria:

•Being diagnosed with chronic constipation

Exclusion criteria:

  • Metabolic diseases
  • Severe heart or kidney disease, previous gastrointestinal, spinal or pelvic surgery other than cholecystectomy, hysterectomy or appendectomy,
  • Neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis, stroke, Parkinson's disease or spinal injury, impaired awareness
  • Mini-mental score < 15
  • Legal blindness, pregnancy, rectal prolapse, anal fissure, and alternating pattern of constipation and diarrhea.

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: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Auricular vagus stimulation
Non-invasive transcutaneous devices stimulate the vagus nerve via the auricular route or from the carotid.
Device: Auricular vagus stimulation
When the nervus tibialis approaches the medial malleolus, it approaches the surface. In this study, bilateral transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) electrodes will be placed under the medial malleolus approximately at the point where the tibialis nerve contacts the surface.
Experimental: Tibial Nerve Stimulation
Transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (TTNS) is reported to be beneficial for fecal and urinary incontinence. A review of the literature showed that there are very few studies using TTNS that have been shown to be effective for constipation.
Device: Tibial Nerve Stimulation
When the nervus tibialis approaches the medial malleolus, it approaches the surface. In this study, bilateral transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) electrodes will be placed under the medial malleolus approximately at the point where the tibialis nerve contacts the surface.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Bristol Stool Scale
Time Frame: 4 weeks
Bristol Stool Scale (BGS) In the scale, the type of stool is classified into 7 different groups. In the Bristol stool scale, the intestinal transit time of stool is evaluated over seven different stool types. According to BGS, 1-2 points are "hard stools", 3-4-5 points are "normal stools" and 6-7 points are "soft-watery stools (diarrhea)".
4 weeks
Pelvic Pain Impact Questionnaire
Time Frame: 4 weeks
The clinical assessment of the effect of pelvic pain on women consists of 10 questions. However, the first 8 questions are scored. The range of points to be taken from the questionnaire varies between 1 and 32. As the score to be obtained from the questionnaire increases, the degree of functional limitation of pelvic pain on the person also increases.
4 weeks
Superficial Electromyography Biofeedback
Time Frame: 4 weeks
Before starting the treatment, the target that the patient wants to reach is determined. With the "set target" feature on the device, tensing and relaxation are practiced for 10 seconds and the average target is determined. Then, the target is created by taking the percentage of this determined target. Since the goal in this study is relaxation, the patient is asked to decrease the value on the graph during the session.
4 weeks
Constipation Severity Scale
Time Frame: 4 weeks
The lowest possible total score is 0, and the highest is 73. A high score from the scale indicates that the symptoms are serious. The highest score that can be obtained from the five-point Likert-type scale is 140, and the lowest score is 28. It is thought that as the scores obtained from the scale increase, the quality of life is negatively affected.
4 weeks
Autonomic nervous system device
Time Frame: 4 weeks
In the study, the autonomic nervous system will be evaluated with the Polar H10 device. By connecting the device to a smart phone via bluetooth, the data will be recorded and the software supported by the device will be used for the analysis of the data. A measurement will be made with the participant in a sitting position and lasting up to 3 minutes.
4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Istanbul Medipol University Hospital

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)

April 15, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 15, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

July 9, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 17, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 17, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

April 27, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 10, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 9, 2024

Last Verified

July 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Chronic Constipation

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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