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CompletedNCT03291197Updated Sep 30, 2019Results posted

Tolerability of Suprascapular and Median Nerve Blocks for the Treatment of Shoulder-hand Syndrome

A Phase 4 interventional study of Suprascapular and median nerve blocks in Shoulder Hand Syndrome and Complex Regional Pain Syndromes, sponsored by Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. Completed at 1 site in Canada. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2019-09-30.

Sponsored by Ottawa Hospital Research Institute · Phase 4, Interventional, and Other

Phase
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
5
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Shoulder-hand syndrome (SHS) in stroke patients is painful and lowers quality of life. Unfortunately, the cause of SHS is not known, diagnosing SHS can be difficult, and treating it can be hard. Recent research has shown that certain nerve blocks are good for treating shoulder pain for stroke patients, but no one has looked specifically as SHS. Investigators think that specific nerve blocks involving a shoulder nerve (the suprascapular, or SSc nerve) and a hand nerve (the median nerve) will be helpful in reducing SHS pain. Investigators will use ultrasound guidance to accurately inject these nerves. These injections have never been described for SHS patients however, so investigators want to make sure people with SHS can go through with the injections without too much pain or discomfort. That is, the investigators want to test the tolerance of these injections for people with SHS. Investigators are also hoping to better understand how consistent a set of diagnostic criteria, called the Budapest criteria, are at diagnosing SHS in order to be able to accurately diagnose this condition.

02

Conditions studied

  • Shoulder Hand Syndrome
  • Complex Regional Pain Syndromes

Keywords

  • Suprascapular nerve block
  • Median nerve block
  • CRPS
  • Shoulder hand syndrome
03

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Subjects are required to be 18 years of age or older and have a presumptive diagnosis of SHS post-stroke with a minimum visual analog scale of 40mm (greater than 40mm is considered moderate pain).

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Subjects will be excluded from the study if they have significant cognitive impairment (mini-mental state examination \<23) and language deficits (difficulty cooperating due to aphasia) as this may affect their response to the outcome measures. Subjects with uncontrolled hypertension (>180/110), septicemia, and brachial plexus injuries will be excluded. Patients who are blind and deaf will also be excluded, as they will be unable to adequately complete the post-procedure survey and VAS. Patients on anticoagulation medications will also be excluded on a case-by-case basis and medications will be held prior to injection if required for safety. Patients with INR >1.5 will be excluded.
04

Study design

Phase
Phase 4
Primary purpose
Other
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
5 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Open label treatment

    These patients will receive suprascapular and median nerve blocks for shoulder hand syndrome. Investigators will assess the tolerability of his procedure using pre-defined criteria (outlined elsewhere).

    Drug: Suprascapular and median nerve blocks

Interventions

  • DrugSuprascapular and median nerve blocks

    Ultrasound guided injection of the median and suprascapular nerve of the affected side.

    Also known as: Bupivacaine, kenalog

05

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Number of Participants Demonstrating Tolerability of Suprascapular and Median Nerve Blocks

    To evaluate the tolerability of ultrasound-guided suprascapular and median nerve blocks in stroke patients with SHS as determined using the Budapest criteria. Since tolerability is a subjective measure, it will be defined by a composite outcome including: A) Pain score prior to, during, and immediately following the procedure as measured by the visual analog scale (VAS); B) the rate of serious adverse events associated with this procedure; and C) the level of patient acceptance and satisfaction as determined by a validated post-procedure survey.

    Time frame: 12 months

  2. Visual Analog Scale (VAS)

    Pain scale used to address a difference following intervention. Pain is measured on a horizontal line from 0 to 100mm, with 0 being no pain and 100 being the worst imaginable pain. Participants place a vertical mark on the line indicating their pain intensity.

    Time frame: measured at baseline, within 1 hour after, and 2 weeks post intervention

Secondary outcomes

  1. Inter-rater Agreement of Budapest Criteria

    Investigators will assess the reproducibility of the Budapest clinical criteria for newly suspected cases of SHS. This will be achieved by determining the level of inter-rater agreement between a resident and a staff physician working in stroke rehabilitation. Investigators will thus determine if there is variability in the clinical diagnosis among physicians with different levels of expertise.

    Time frame: 12 months

06

Results

Posted Sep 30, 2019
Limitations and caveats
Some of these results should be considered hypothesis-generating due to the small sample size of our study, and the inability to assess other factors that may affect the response to pain (i.e. co-morbidities, psychological profile).

Participant flow

Recruitment period was from September 2017 to 2018. This was a 12 month period in which patient with shoulder and hand pain following stroke were recruited.

Participant flow — Overall Study
MilestoneOpen Label Treatment
Started5
Completed5
Not completed0

Outcome measures

PrimaryNumber of Participants Demonstrating Tolerability of Suprascapular and Median Nerve Blocks

To evaluate the tolerability of ultrasound-guided suprascapular and median nerve blocks in stroke patients with SHS as determined using the Budapest criteria. Since tolerability is a subjective measure, it will be defined by a composite outcome including: A) Pain score prior to, during, and immediately following the procedure as measured by the visual analog scale (VAS); B) the rate of serious adverse events associated with this procedure; and C) the level of patient acceptance and satisfaction as determined by a validated post-procedure survey.

Time frame:
12 months
Reported as:
Count of participants · Participants
Number of Participants Demonstrating Tolerability of Suprascapular and Median Nerve Blocks
ParticipantsTolerability
Number of Participants Demonstrating Tolerability of Suprascapular and Median Nerve Blocks5
PrimaryVisual Analog Scale (VAS)

Pain scale used to address a difference following intervention. Pain is measured on a horizontal line from 0 to 100mm, with 0 being no pain and 100 being the worst imaginable pain. Participants place a vertical mark on the line indicating their pain intensity.

Time frame:
measured at baseline, within 1 hour after, and 2 weeks post intervention
Reported as:
Median · score on a scale
Visual Analog Scale (VAS)
score on a scaleBaseline VAS1 Hour VAS2 Weeks VAS
Shoulder75 (66.5 to 90.5)17 (0 to 29.5)22 (0 to 63)
Hand36 (24.5 to 80.5)16 (0 to 32.5)28 (0 to 57)
Statistical analysis
  • Baseline VAS vs 1 Hour VAS · Wilcoxon (Mann-Whitney) · p = 0.043
SecondaryInter-rater Agreement of Budapest Criteria

Investigators will assess the reproducibility of the Budapest clinical criteria for newly suspected cases of SHS. This will be achieved by determining the level of inter-rater agreement between a resident and a staff physician working in stroke rehabilitation. Investigators will thus determine if there is variability in the clinical diagnosis among physicians with different levels of expertise.

Time frame:
12 months
Reported as:
Number · Intraclass correlation coefficient
Inter-rater Agreement of Budapest Criteria
Intraclass correlation coefficientAll Participants
Inter-rater Agreement of Budapest Criteria0.75

Adverse events

Collected over during and immediately following the procedure. Non-serious events are listed at a 0% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
Tolerability0/5 (0%)0/5 (0%)0/5 (0%)

Baseline characteristics

Age, Continuous
Age, Continuous(years)Open Label Treatment
Mean68.5 ± 9.5
Sex: Female, Male
Sex: Female, Male(Participants)Open Label Treatment
Female2
Male3
Race and Ethnicity Not Collected
Race and Ethnicity Not Collected(Participants)Open Label Treatment
Region of Enrollment
Region of Enrollment(participants)Open Label Treatment
Canada5
Right Hand Dominant
Right Hand Dominant(Participants)Open Label Treatment
Count of participants5
Mini Mental Status Exam
Mini Mental Status Exam(units on a scale)Open Label Treatment
Mean26.6 ± 1.1
Stroke Location
Stroke Location(Participants)Open Label Treatment
Right middle cerebral artery2
Right posterior limb of internal capsule2
Left pons1
Time interval, days
Time interval, days(Days)Open Label Treatment
Mean12.8 ± 1.9
07

Study locations

1 site
  • Elisabeth Bruyere Hospital
    Ottawa, Ontario K1N5C8, Canada
08

References and documents

Study documents

  • Protocol and statistical analysis plan · Apr 8, 2017

Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes

09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03291197
Lead sponsor
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Sep 25, 2017
Start date
Oct 15, 2017
Primary completion
Oct 14, 2018
Completion
Oct 14, 2018
Results posted
Sep 30, 2019
Last update
Sep 30, 2019

Study contacts

T Mark Campbell, MD
principal investigator · Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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