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Neural Adaptation After Tendon Transfer and Training in Tetraplegia

NCT02768103 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 5

Last updated 2022-11-15

Study results available
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Summary

The number of people in the United States who have survived SCI is estimated to be approximately 273,000 persons. Around 50% of the injuries are to the cervical spine resulting in tetraplegia. An important rehabilitation goal in this population is recovery of upper limb function, which could decrease medical costs and improve their quality of life. Re-establishing active grasp and pinch strength to the hand can be accomplished by surgeries that transfer the tendon of a strong muscle to restore strength to a paralyzed muscle, but the outcomes of the surgeries are variable. The investigators have demonstrated in an ongoing study, the functional gains after surgery can be improved with a focused therapy program to retrain the transferred muscle. The propose of this study is to examine the cortical mechanisms that drive successful muscle re-education after surgery. Understanding the neural (brain) activity associated with functional performance can help to predict who will respond to therapy and will guide evidence-based rehabilitation programs to improve upper limb function in tetraplegia.

Conditions

  • Spinal Cord Injury

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

task-based training

The 10-week training program is designed to incorporate requirements of motor learning and includes activities that require learning to coordinate the transferred Br with other synergists by producing pinch force in different upper limb postures and in a range of pinch openings. Biofeedback using a pinch dynamometer in self-selected postures provides feedback and knowledge of progress to the participant. A task board is used for practicing task-specific activities such as opening and closing zippers, using a remote, an ATM card, a key, and an electrical plug and focuses on pinch in dynamic conditions that require modulating force and maintaining specific positions. The pinch-pin device requires closing pinch-pins (clothes pin) of variable resistance ranging from approximately 1 to 8 lbs and placing them on rods arranged at different positions in the work space.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • VA Office of Research and Development

    lead FED

Principal Investigators

  • Mary E Johanson, DPT · VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA

Study Design

Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2016-05-31
Primary Completion
2018-06-30
Completion
2018-06-30

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT02768103 on ClinicalTrials.gov