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RecruitingNCT05981261ExPainPDUpdated Aug 8, 2023

Experimental Pain in Parkinsons

An interventional study of inducement of experimental pain in Pain and Parkinson Disease, sponsored by University of Aarhus. Recruiting at 1 site in Denmark. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-08-08.

Sponsored by University of Aarhus · Not applicable, Interventional, and Other

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Jun 2023; still recruiting 3 years 4 months later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
63
Allocation
Not applicable
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Study comparing pain intensity and discomfort in patients with Parkinson´s disease and healthy controls during inducement of mechanical, thermal, and chemical experimental pain

Read the detailed description

Project: Inducing experimental muscle pain in healthy volunteers, patients with Parkinson's disease in levodopa treatment, and patients with Parkinson's disease with deep brain stimulation treatment

Research team:

  • Andrea S. Poulsen (PI), PhD-student, AU
  • Sophie Rosenkjær, PhD-student, AU
  • Lene Vase, Professor, AU
  • Nanna B. Finnerup, Professor, AUH
  • Mette Møller, Leading doctor, AUH
  • Erisela Qerama Montvilas, Clinical lector, AUH
  • Jan Rosner, Post-doc, AUH

Objective: Comparing induced pain levels in (1) healthy volunteers, (2) patients with Parkinson's disease in levodopa treatment, and (3) patients with Parkinson's disease with deep brain stimulation treatment

Participants: 21 healthy volunteers, 21 patients with Parkinson's disease in levodopa treatment, and 21 patients with Parkinson's disease with deep brain stimulation treatment will be recruited from the Department of Neurology at Aarhus University Hospital. Furthermore, recruitment sheets will be posted at Aarhus University Hospital, at Parkinsonforeningen's webpage (https://www.parkinson.dk/) and newsletter and in local newspapers. A power calculation for a Wilcoxcon-Mann-Whitney rank sum test (Three groups) determine 21 in three test groups is adequate (effect size= 0.8; 1-β=.80; α=.05).

Design:Between-subject randomized study where each participant will complete a ≈1 ½ hour test session at the Department of Neurophysiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark. Each test session will include assessment of ongoing pain, experimental pain (thermal, mechanical, and chemical), and motor response latencies.

Procedure: Each test session proceeds as follow: First, participant is greeted in the entry hall at AUH and escorted to the examination room. Investigator goes through test procedures and introduce to assessments. Participant complete measures of ongoing pain followed by assessment of motor response latencies. Then, assessments of thermal heat detection, pain thresholds and pain-autonomic interactions on volar forearm. Next, sites of inducement of mechanical and chemical pain (randomized gluteus medius muscle, tibialis anterior muscle, and infraspinatus muscle) will be identified by use of manual palpation and defined by distinct anatomical landmarks marked with a pen. For each site: assessment of mechanical pain threshold followed by evaluation of intensity and discomfort during pain suprathreshold. Then, inducement of chemical pain by use of hypertonic saline injections. Immediately after injection, evaluation of pain intensity and discomfort followed by assessment of sensory and affective verbal descriptions of pain and patient drawings of pain size and distribution. Finally, measures of pain intensity and discomfort during mechanical suprathreshold pressure on site of injection. There will be a 15 minutes interval between inducement of experimental pain in the three sites for the pain to cease. Investigator escorts participant to the entry hall and thank participant for taking part in the study.

02

Conditions studied

  • Pain
  • Parkinson Disease
03

In context

Pain

2,450 studies on the registry are indexed under Pain; 945 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 63 is close to the median of 70 across 2,101 interventional studies indexed under Pain.

Browse Pain studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Aarhus is the lead sponsor of 1,299 studies on the registry; 189 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
Child (0–17), Adult (18–64), Older adult (65+)
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

  • Group healthy volunteers: healthy subjects with no PD diagnosis
  • Group PD patients levodopa: Include PD patients treated with levodopa
  • Group PD patients DBS: Include PD patients with DBS Exclusion criteria
  • Known other neurological or medical disorders (e.g., stroke, neuropathy, diabetes) or other disorders with expected influence on experimental pain
  • Known dementia (a score \<24 on the MoCA)
  • Known untreated depression (a score ≥15 on the Beck Depression Inventory)
  • Unable to cooperate
  • Treated with painkillers except paracetamol and NSAID (except if pain and treatment is ad-equately stable as evaluated by a doctor)
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Other
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
63 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Other
    Experimental pain

    Experimental pain

    Other: inducement of experimental pain

Interventions

  • Otherinducement of experimental pain

    Inducement of experimental pain

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Thermal induced heat pain

    Thermal heat detection and pain thresholds will be measured following the standardized "Quantitative Sensory Testing" protocol

    Time frame: Immediately after assessment of ongoing pain (15 minutes)

  2. Mechanical induced pain

    Mechanical pain thresholds and suprathresholds will be measured by use of a handhold pressor algometer (Somedic, Hörby, Sweden) with a 1-cm2 probe placed on test muscle (gluteus medius muscle, tibialis anterior muscle, and infraspinatus muscle in a randomized order)

    Time frame: Immediately after assessment of thermal induced heat pain (15 minutes)

  3. Chemical induced pain

    Chemical pain will be induced by an injection of hypertonic saline (HS, 5,8% in 1 ml)

    Time frame: Immediately after assessment of mechanical pain (15 minutes)

  4. Ongoing pain (Clinical pain in daily life)

    Intensity and discomfort of ongoing pain in gluteus medius muscle, tibialis anterior muscle, and infraspinatus muscle will be assessed by use of 11- point Numeric Rating Scale (NRS)

    Time frame: After assessment of motor response latencies measure (15 minutes)

  5. Ongoing pain (Sensory and affective verbal descriptions of pain and patient drawings)

    Sensory and affective verbal descriptions of pain and patient drawings of pain size and distribution will be measured by use of the short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ).

    Time frame: After assessment of motor response latencies measures (15 minutes)

  6. Ongoing pain (Pain in PD)

    Pain in PD will be assessed by King´s Parkinson´s disease pain scale (KPPS)

    Time frame: After assessment of motor response latencies measures (15 minutes)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Motor response latencies measure

    To control for bias due to reaction time in measures which include participant stop buttons, motor response latencies will be assessed by use of a response box

    Time frame: Prior to assessment of ongoing pain (3 minutes)

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • aarhus university Hospital
    Aarhus, 8000, Denmark
    Recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Started Jun 2023 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Jan 2027, 42 months after the start.

Of 1,253 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Pain, half reached primary completion within 11 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 5 and three quarters within 29. This study's planned 42 months is above that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 1,276 studies reached it within 11 months; a quarter within 5 and three quarters within 30.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Jun 9, 2023
First posted
Aug 8, 2023
StartActual
Jun 7, 2023
Primary completionEst.
Jan 1, 2027
CompletionEst.
Jan 1, 2028
Last update
Aug 8, 2023
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 8, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05981261
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Aug 8, 2023
Start date
Jun 7, 2023
Primary completion
Jan 1, 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Jan 1, 2028 (estimated)
Last update
Aug 8, 2023

Study contacts

Andrea Søndergaard Poulsen, PhD student
Contact
andrea-s-p@hotmail.com
+4561110138
Lene Vase, Professor
Contact
lenevase@psy.au.dk

Oversight

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

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