Pain Type and Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome Treatment

January 20, 2026 updated by: Lindsey Mckernan, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Mechanistic-Based Treatment of Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome

Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) is a severe pain condition affecting 3-8 million people in the United States lacking treatments that work. Emotional suffering is common in IC/BPS and known to make physical symptoms worse, and studies show patient sub-groups respond differently to treatment. Individuals with IC/BPS have distinct subgroups, or "phenotypes," largely characterized by the distribution of pain throughout the body. Supported by our preliminary evidence, the overall goal of this project is to assess how IC/BPS phenotype may affect response to two different therapies often given without regard to patient phenotype, pelvic floor physical therapy (PT) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for IC/BPS.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) is a debilitating, incurable, and costly pain condition affecting approximately 3-8 million individuals in the United States and is extremely challenging to treat. Treatment advances in IC/BPS have stalled due to a lack of clear understanding of the condition, as symptoms and presentations vary widely. For these reasons, national organizations have prioritized the need to improve both treatment options and understanding of IC/BPS. Leading multi-institutional research networks have now identified that individuals with IC/BPS have distinct subgroups, or "phenotypes," largely characterized by the distribution of pain throughout the body. At the same time, the chronic pain field is adopting a new approach driven by mechanisms of illness and treatment. Growing evidence suggests that different phenotypes of patients with IC/BPS respond differently to medical intervention. The overall goal of this project is to assess how IC/BPS phenotype may affect response to two different therapies often given without regard to patient phenotype, pelvic floor physical therapy (PT) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for IC/BPS. The investigator is proposing a randomized mechanistic trial to evaluate which participants may benefit from each treatment (Aim 1) and evaluate whether neurobiological mechanisms may moderate outcomes and change with treatment (Aim 2). The investigator hypothesizes that a prediction of which participants will respond preferentially to either form of treatment based on reported bodily pain distribution (pelvic pain primarily, pain outside of the pelvis). This project has great potential to tailor treatment and improve future IC/BPS precision-medicine care efforts.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

220

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 Locations

  • United States
    • Tennessee
      • Franklin, Tennessee, United States, 37067
        • Recruiting
        • Vanderbilt Urology Cool Springs
        • Contact:
          • Lindsey McKernan, PhD, MPH

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:

  • 18 years of age or older;
  • Diagnosis of IC/BPS as indicated by structured assessments;
  • Capable of giving written informed consent;
  • Able to enroll for the duration of the study period;

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Comorbid neurological conditions including spinal cord injury or systematic neurologic illnesses, or central nervous system diseases such as brain tumor or stroke;
  • Current or history of diagnosis of primary psychotic or major thought disorder within the past five years;
  • Hospitalization for psychiatric reasons other than suicidal ideation, homicidal ideation, and/or PTSD (within the past 5 years);
  • Psychiatric or behavioral conditions in which symptoms are unstable or severe (e.g. current delirium, mania, psychosis, active suicidal ideation, homicidal ideation, substance abuse dependency) reported within the past six months;
  • Non-English speaking;
  • Presenting symptoms at time of screening that would interfere with participation, specifically active suicidal ideation with intent to harm oneself or active delusional or psychotic thinking;
  • Difficulties or limitations communicating over the telephone or via teleconferencing systems;
  • Any planned life events that would interfere with participating in the key elements of the study;
  • Any major active medical issues that could preclude participation;
  • Currently pregnant;
  • Currently being treated for cancer;
  • Cancer-related pain;
  • Recently or actively participating in treatment similar to those being investigated (e.g. individual psychotherapy or pelvic floor pt).

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: Psychosocial Treatment
The psychosocial self-management intervention consists of 8 weekly 50-minute individual visits with an assigned trained therapist. Sessions follow a structured protocol that has been developed with the patient population and tested in a prior study. Treatment modules are individualized and include topics such as pain coping strategies, relaxation training, education on IC/BPS, and communication strategies.
Behavioral: Psychosocial Treatment
The psychosocial self-management intervention consists of 8 weekly 50-minute individual visits with an assigned trained therapist. Sessions follow a structured protocol that has been developed with the patient population and tested in a prior study. Treatment modules are individualized and include topics such as pain coping strategies, relaxation training, education on IC/BPS, and communication strategies.
Active Comparator: Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy
The pelvic floor physical therapy condition consists of 10 weekly 45-minute individual visits with an assigned trained physical therapist. In IC/BPS, pelvic floor physical therapy (PT) uses manual manipulation to release localized muscle tension, trigger points, and correct other scars and restrictions to reduce pain and urgency symptoms. Specific techniques will include external connective tissue manipulation to the abdominal wall, back, buttocks and thighs, myofascial trigger point release, and internal transvaginal/transrectal treatment of the soft tissues of the pelvic floor with connective tissue and myofascial manipulation to pelvic floor musculature
Other: Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy
The pelvic floor physical therapy condition consists of 10 weekly 45-minute individual visits with an assigned trained physical therapist. In IC/BPS, pelvic floor physical therapy (PT) uses manual manipulation to release localized muscle tension, trigger points, and correct other scars and restrictions to reduce pain and urgency symptoms. Specific techniques will include external connective tissue manipulation to the abdominal wall, back, buttocks and thighs, myofascial trigger point release, and internal transvaginal/transrectal treatment of the soft tissues of the pelvic floor with connective tissue and myofascial manipulation to pelvic floor musculature

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Differences in response to treatment by phenotype measured by the Global Response Assessment (GRA) scale.
Time Frame: Post-treatment (either Week 8 or 10)
GRA provides a global index used to rate the response of a condition to an intervention. The GRA is a 7-point centered scale that assesses patient impression of change in IC/BPS symptoms since entering the study ranging from 7= "very much worse" to 1= "very much improved." This scale will be administered at post-treatment and at follow-up. Global improvement is a core domain recommended for conducting clinical trials of the efficacy and effectiveness of treatments for chronic pain according to Initiative on Methods, Measurement, and Pain Assessment in Clinical Trials (IMMPACT). We will examine the mean differences in GRA scores by phenotype in each treatment condition, and we will then calculate the percentage of patients classified as treatment responders (GRA<3) within each treatment and phenotype.
Post-treatment (either Week 8 or 10)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Chronic Overlapping Pain Condition-Screener (COPCS)
Time Frame: Baseline (Week 0)
The COPCS is designed to identify up to 10 chronic overlapping pain conditions that often occur together in the same individual. The first part of the survey presents a body map, inquiring about pain locations. Based on participant responses to the body map, additional questions about symptoms are asked to determine the type of pain conditions that are experienced. Endorsed pain locations are collapsed into "regions" to reflect the number of zones in the body with pain (1-7 pain regions). Participants will be categorized into "peripheral" or "centralized" pain types based on the number of pain regions endorsed. This information will be used to examine the role of pain type in treatment response, and to assess how treatment outcomes may differ within pain phenotypes.
Baseline (Week 0)
Quantitative Sensory Testing - Tolerance Average (QST-TOL)
Time Frame: Baseline (Week 0), Post-treatment (either Week 8 or 10), Follow-up (Week 24)
Psychophysical testing methods replicated existing protocols used at VUMC and include the following elements: 1) an evaluation of temporal summation (as a biomarker for central sensitization), 2) thermal pain threshold and tolerance. Thermal measures involved four pain threshold trials, followed by four pain tolerance trials, with the probe applied to slightly different target sites for each trial to avoid local sensitization. Means for the four threshold and tolerance trials are separately derived, and tolerance is reported here. Scores range from 0 = "No Pain or Warmth" to 10 = "Worst Possible Pain", with higher scores indicating a higher pain tolerance. This information will inform both how pain tolerance may predict treatment response, and change in response to treatment.
Baseline (Week 0), Post-treatment (either Week 8 or 10), Follow-up (Week 24)
Quantitative Sensory Testing - Threshold Average (QST-THR)
Time Frame: Baseline (Week 0), Post-treatment (either Week 8 or 10), Follow-up (Week 24)
Psychophysical testing methods replicated existing protocols used at VUMC and include the following elements: 1) an evaluation of temporal summation (as a biomarker for central sensitization), 2) thermal pain threshold and tolerance. Thermal measures involved four pain threshold trials, followed by four pain tolerance trials, with the probe applied to slightly different target sites for each trial to avoid local sensitization. Means for the four threshold and tolerance trials are separately derived, and threshold is reported here. Scores range from 0 = "No Pain or Warmth" to 10 = "Worst Possible Pain", with higher scores indicating a higher pain threshold. This information will inform both how pain threshold may predict treatment response, and change in response to treatment.
Baseline (Week 0), Post-treatment (either Week 8 or 10), Follow-up (Week 24)
Quantitative Sensory Testing - Temporal Summation (QST-TS)
Time Frame: Baseline, (Week 0), Post-treatment (either Week 8 or 10), Follow-up (Week 24)
Psychophysical testing methods will replicate existing protocols used at VUMC and include an evaluation of temporal summation (as a biomarker for central sensitization). Temporal summation includes a series of 10 sequential heat pulses applied to the forearm. In each sequence, after each heat pulse, subjects provide a verbal numeric pain intensity rating on a 0-10 scale (0 = "No Pain or Warmth" and 10 = "Worst Possible Pain"). The standardized slope of the line fitted to the series of 10 pulses at each temperature indexes temporal summation and serves as a quantitative marker of central sensitization. Two slopes will be calculated from two sequences. These slopes reflect the relationship between pain and pulse, representing average pain increase for each unit increase in pulse. This information will inform both how temporal summation may predict treatment response, and change in response to treatment.
Baseline, (Week 0), Post-treatment (either Week 8 or 10), Follow-up (Week 24)
Urinary Nerve Growth Factor (NGF)
Time Frame: Baseline, (Week 0), Post-treatment (either Week 8 or 10), Follow-up (Week 24)
Urinalysis will be used to assess for infection and urinary biomarkers associated with pain phenotype. Urinary Nerve Growth Factor will be collected to assess the potential impact of inflammation detected in the urine on treatment response, and whether any change in this biomarker may occur following treatment.
Baseline, (Week 0), Post-treatment (either Week 8 or 10), Follow-up (Week 24)
Urinary Interleukin-6 (IL6)
Time Frame: Baseline, (Week 0), Post-treatment (either Week 8 or 10), Follow-up (Week 24)
Urinalysis will be used to assess for infection and urinary biomarkers associated with pain phenotype. Urinary Interleukin-6 will be collected to examine the potential impact of pro-inflammatory cytokines detected in the urine on treatment response, and whether any change in this biomarker may occur following treatment.
Baseline, (Week 0), Post-treatment (either Week 8 or 10), Follow-up (Week 24)
Interleukin-6, whole blood stimulated (IL6-LPS)
Time Frame: Baseline, (Week 0), Post-treatment (either Week 8 or 10), Follow-up (Week 24)
Blood samples will be taken and stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to assess for the presence of low-grade inflammation in the blood. Changes in blood samples will be taken to assess for inflammatory biomarkers, including LPS-stimulated cytokines to facilitate patient phenotyping and assess whether IL6-LPS may predict treatment response and change in response to treatment.
Baseline, (Week 0), Post-treatment (either Week 8 or 10), Follow-up (Week 24)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Collaborators

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Lindsey McKernan, PhD, MPH, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

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)

May 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

April 5, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 4, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 29, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 29, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

March 8, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 21, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 20, 2026

Last Verified

January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 230487
  • 1R01DK133415-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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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