Upper Extremity Pathologies in Spinal Cord Injuries

December 1, 2025 updated by: Mahmut Sami Doğanlar, Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University

Investigation of Upper Extremity Pathologies and Associated Factors in Patients With Spinal Cord Injuries

This study aims to determine the relationship between upper extremity pathologies and demographic data, duration of manual wheelchair use, duration of injury, physical examination and musculoskeletal ultrasound measurements in patients with spinal cord injuries.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Spinal cord injury is a neurological condition that can result from traumatic or non-traumatic causes, leading to motor, sensory and autonomic dysfunctions. Following a spinal cord injury, the upper extremity becomes increasingly used for mobility, weight-bearing, and transfer activities, making functionality crucial in daily life. Wheelchairs, commonly used by individuals with spinal cord injuries for daily activities, can lead to injuries and pain or degeneration in the upper extremities due to repetitive transfer activities. As a result, individuals with spinal cord injuries are at high risk for shoulder, elbow, wrist and hand injuries. Neuromuscular ultrasound (NMUS) has become increasingly important in clinical use in the evaluation of peripheral nerves and muscles in patients with spinal cord injuries in recent years, due to the advantages of ultrasonography such as providing dynamic and real-time evaluation, not containing radiation, and being painless.

This study aims to determine the relationship between upper extremity pathologies and demographic data, duration of manual wheelchair use, duration of injury, physical examination and musculoskeletal ultrasound measurements in patients with spinal cord injuries.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

80

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 (Türkiye)
    • Afyonkarahisar
      • Afyonkarahisar, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey (Türkiye), 0300
        • Afyonkarahisar
      • Afyonkarahisar, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey (Türkiye), 03100
        • Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University

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

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Spinal cord injuries who use manual wheelchairs and spinal cord injuries who do not use manual wheelchairs, aged between 18-65 years who applied to our clinic will be included in the study.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who have experienced spinal cord injury, can comply with two-stage verbal commands, voluntarily agree to participate in the study and are medically stable.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Tetraplegia
  • A significant comorbid condition such as severe heart disease and uncontrolled hypertension.
  • Cognitive dysfunction
  • Active infection
  • Malignancy
  • History of trauma to the upper extremity
  • Brachial plexus and peripheral nerve injury
  • History of surgery on the upper extremity

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

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
SCI with Manual Wheelchair Usage
Patients with spinal cord injuries who use manual wheelchairs
Diagnostic test: Musculoskeletal Ultrasound
Upper extremity pathologies of participants with ultrasound
SCI without Manual Wheelchair Usage
Patients with spinal cord injuries who do not use manual wheelchairs
Diagnostic test: Musculoskeletal Ultrasound
Upper extremity pathologies of participants with ultrasound

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Comparison of US findings among participants
Time Frame: 1 day (a single point in time)
Ultrasonographic evaluation of upper extremity shoulder, elbow and wrist pathologies and examination of their relationship with clinical parameters.
1 day (a single point in time)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Visual Analog Scale (VAS)
Time Frame: 1 day (a single point in time)
Pain intensity was measured with visual analogue scale for pain (0-10 mm; 0 means no pain, 10 means severe pain) which is used to measure musculoskeletal pain with very good reliability and validity.
1 day (a single point in time)
The Physical Examination of the Shoulder Scale (PESS)
Time Frame: 1 day (a single point in time)
Includes 10 specific shoulder examination methods (Neer test, Hawkins test, Painful arc test, Supraspinatus test, Speed test, Yergason's test, O'brien test, Gerber's lift-off test, Horizontal adduction test, 0-degree abduction test). For each test, if there is no pain, 0 points are given; if there is suspected pain, 1 point is given; if there is obvious pain described during the test, 2 points are given. The maximum score for a single shoulder is 20 points.
1 day (a single point in time)
The Quick Disability of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (Quick DASH)
Time Frame: 1 day (a single point in time)
Quick DASH is a rapid, practical, and frequently used scale that allows the evaluation of the functional and symptomatic status of patients with upper extremity problems. The questionnaire consists of 11 questions, with 5 options provided for each question. A higher score indicates more activity limitation and greater difficulty.
1 day (a single point in time)
American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale
Time Frame: 1 day (a single point in time)
ASIA assessment consists of two parts: motor and sensory. Motor assessment involves testing the strength of ten key muscles on each side of the body in the supine position (ranging from 0 = no contraction to 5 = normal resistance). The maximum score for the upper extremities and lower extremities is 50. Sensory evaluation includes testing pinprick and light touch sensation. Pinprick and light touch sensations are scored separately for each dermatome on a 3-point scale (0, 1, and 2). Total highest score is 224, higher score indicates better.
1 day (a single point in time)
The Spinal Cord Independence Measure (SCIM-III)
Time Frame: 1 day (a single point in time)
Reliable tool for measuring the level of independence following spinal cord injury (SCI). The total score ranges from 0 to 100 and comprises sub-items such as Personal Care (0-20), Respiration and Sphincter Management (0-40), and Mobility (0-40). Lower scores indicate decreased levels of independence.
1 day (a single point in time)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Nuran EYVAZ, MD, Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University
  • Principal Investigator: Mahmut Sami DOĞANLAR, MD, Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences 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

Helpful Links

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)

August 5, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 4, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

October 4, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 19, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 20, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

February 26, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

December 8, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 1, 2025

Last Verified

August 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • SCIUSG24

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

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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