Clinical Research Directory

Acupuncture Versus Conventional Treatment for Chronic Pain in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease

This study evaluated acupuncture plus optimized conventional pharmacological treatment compared with optimized conventional pharmacological treatment alone for chronic pain in adults with chronic kidney disease receiving conservative treatment, peritoneal dialysis, or hemodialysis. The study was conducted prospectively at a single center. Actual allocation was not exclusively randomized because some participants who expressed a preference for acupuncture before allocation were assigned to the acupuncture group, while the planned random sequence was used for participants without an expressed preference.

Perineural Botulinum Toxin Injection Versus Oral Duloxetine in Relief of Foot Pain in Painful Peripheral Diabetic Neuropathy

Painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) is a frequent and disabling complication of diabetes that commonly causes persistent foot pain, sleep impairment, and decreased quality of life. While oral medications such as duloxetine are established treatment options, many patients experience incomplete pain control or encounter dose-limiting side effects. Perineural botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) injection has emerged as an interventional approach designed to inhibit peripheral pain signaling with targeted, prolonged local effect. The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy and safety of a single session of ultrasound-guided perineural BTX-A injection versus standard daily oral duloxetine therapy in relieving foot pain in patients with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups using a double-dummy design to preserve blinding: * Group B (Botulinum Toxin): Receives a single session of ultrasound-guided perineural botulinum toxin type A injection around the ankle nerves plus daily oral placebo tablets for 12 weeks. * Group D (Duloxetine): Receives a single session of sham subcutaneous injection plus oral duloxetine tablets daily for 12 weeks (30 mg once daily for week 1, increased to 60 mg once daily for weeks 2-12). Participants will be followed for 6 months to evaluate changes in foot pain intensity on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months. The study will also assess objective peripheral nerve function through bilateral nerve conduction studies (NCS) at baseline and 6 months, alongside evaluations of neuropathic pain scores, sleep quality, quality of life, and adverse effects.

Virtual Reality (VR) Self-Hypnosis Software

This single-site study of self-hypnosis software using an off-the-shelf virtual reality (VR) device (OculusGo™) to determine the software's safety, usability, and preliminary efficacy in pain relief for HIV-associated chronic pain patients. This is funded under the i Prism Funding through Mount Sinai Innovations.

Treatment of Upper Limb Chronic Neuropathic Pain by Electrical Stimulation of the Brachial Plexus Nerve Roots

Moderate to severe neuropathic pain has a prevalence of 5% in the French population, involving the upper limb (UL) in 47%. Invasive neuromodulation, mainly spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is recommended as a third line treatment in refractory chronic neuropathic pain when optimized medical treatments are not sufficient to control pain. The implantation technique for BP roots PNS is based on the ultrasound-guided percutaneous inter-scalenic approach, routinely used for BP anesthetic blocks. As for SCS, BP PNS relies on chronic electrical stimulation of the nerve roots via chronically implanted devices (one lead connected to a subcutaneous generator). However efficacy of BP PNS has never been evaluated in controlled conditions. Our objectives are to assess, in controlled conditions, the effects of BP PNS in term of pain relief, quality of life improvement and safety.

Perioperative Medical Program to Optimize Nerve Regeneration After Robot-assisted Laparoscopic Neurolyses of Pudendal and/or Inferior Cluneal Nerves for Chronic Neuralgias: Results After 1-year Follow-up

Pudendal and inferior cluneal neuralgias are responsible for chronic pelvicperineal pain. These two neuralgias are associated in approximately 25% of cases. In the event of failure of first-line multimodal medical treatment, a mini-invasive robot-assisted laparoscopic decompression can be proposed. These surgeries carry the risk of neurapraxia, leading to a temporary increase in neuropathic pain and numbness in the nerve sensitive area, a motoric or neurovegetative disturbance (pudendal).

MRI-Guided Cryoablation to Alleviate Pain in Head, Neck and Spine

The objective of this study is to provide pain relief to patients with facet joint disease or head and neck pain related to compression of a nerve root. The goal is to provide palliative care with superior efficacy and longer relief compared to current methods.

Longitudinal Assessment of Pain-Related Patient-Reported Outcomes After Surgery

Little is known about pain-related outcomes experienced by patients in the first few weeks after surgery, once they are discharged from hospital. This study aims to characterize pain, pain-related interference, and early neuropathic pain in the sub-acute phase after surgery.