Pain Clinical Trials in Los Angeles, CA

The EPPIC (Easing Pelvic Pain Interventions Clinical Research Program) study evaluates an ultra-brief, 4 session cognitive behavioral pain treatment transdiagnostic in design for urologic chronic pain syndrome (UCPPS) with clinical and practical advantages over existing behavioral therapies whose length and focus limits their adoption by clinicians and coverage for mechanistically similar comorbidities. A theoretically informed, practical, empirically grounded approach will systematically unpack CBT's working mechanisms, clarify for whom it works, ease dissemination, appeal to patients, providers, payers, and policy makers in the COVID-19 era favoring low resource intensity treatments, and reduce cost and inefficiencies associated with high intensity therapies whose complexity, length, and scarcity restricts uptake and impact. Read Less

Patients with digestive tract malignancy often experience severe and unremitting abdominal pain that negatively affects physical, emotional, and social function, as well as health related quality of life (HRQOL). Therapeutic virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a promising and evidence-based treatment modality for cancer pain. Users of VR wear a pair of goggles with a close-proximity screen in front of the eyes that creates a sensation of being transported into lifelike, three-dimensional worlds. To date, VR has been limited to short-term clinical trials for cancer pain. Moreover, limited research exists on theory-based VR modalities beyond mere distraction, such as VR that employs acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) with components of biofeedback and mindfulness. To bridge these gaps, this study seeks to: (1) assess the impact of immersive VR on patient-reported outcomes (PROs), including pain, activity metrics, and opioid use among patients with visceral pain from a digestive tract malignancy; (2) assess differences in PROs, activity metrics, and opioid use between skills-based VR therapy vs. distraction VR therapy; and (3) determine patient-level predictors of VR treatment response in visceral cancer pain. To address these aims, the study will measure PROs and opioid use in 360 patients randomized among 3 groups and follow them for 60 days after enrollment: (1) an enhanced VR group receiving skills-based VR; (2) a distraction-based VR group receiving patient-selected VR videos; and (3) a VR sham control group using a VR headset with 2-D content. The results will inform best practices for the implementation of VR for visceral cancer pain management and guide selection of patient-tailored experiences. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to evaluate if peri-operative zolpidem for posterior lumbar spinal fusion improves patient reported outcomes following surgery. Read Less

Pain management in pediatric patients presents a difficult challenge. Unlike adults, pediatric patients often cannot communicate their pain management needs clearly. This is especially true in patients with cerebral palsy (CP), who often have concomitant developmental delay, intellectual disability and verbal limitations. Current literature indicates pain as a common experience for children with CP but has been understudied in this population. Moreover, inadequate post-operative pain control can result in negative physiologic and psychological complications and lead to poor surgical outcomes. Currently, perioperative pain management following orthopaedic procedures in pediatric patients follows traditional protocols that rely on the administration of opioid medications despite their known adverse side effects including nausea, vomiting, itching, constipation, urinary retention, confusion, and respiratory depression. Epidural anesthesia is a key modality in traditional pain management for pediatric patients with CP given its proven efficacy in decreasing pain and managing spasticity. Yet, administering epidural anesthesia in this patient population poses several risks including damage to preexisting intrathecal baclofen pumps, iatrogenic infection, and technically demanding insertion given high rates of concomitant neuromuscular scoliosis. Alternatively, multimodal analgesic injections theoretically offer an efficacious adjunct to traditional pain management protocols with a lower risk profile. Preliminary data from our study group's pilot randomized control trial comparing the safety and efficacy of a multimodal surgical site injection to placebo showed decreased pain scores and narcotic consumption postoperatively in this patient population. Based on these promising results, the objective of this randomized control trial is to evaluate the efficacy of a multimodal surgical site injection compared to epidural anesthesia for postoperative pain control following operative management of hip dysplasia in pediatric patients with CP. Read Less

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a debilitating condition and costly to treat. Long-term drug treatment often fails due to habituation, breakthrough of pain, or adverse effects of drug treatment. Opioid use to manage this pain has contributed to the opioid epidemic. Spinal cord stimulators have emerged as a promising treatment and reduces reliance on drugs. However, response to spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is unpredictable. It is difficult to predict which patients will respond positively to SCS because the physiological mechanism for treatment responsiveness is unclear. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate how spinal cord stimulators affect functional measures in patients with CLBP, including functional MRI, neurophysiology, gait analysis, and questionnaires. The results of this study can lead to the widespread adoption of spinal cord stimulators as a safe and effective therapy for CLBP, reducing the reliance on opioids and mitigating the opioid epidemic's impact. Read Less

Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome (IC/BPS) is a common, chronic, and debilitating condition in women. Preliminary evidence suggests that IC/BPS pain can be reduced applying non-invasive repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to areas of the brain that regulate pelvic floor muscle activity. However, prior studies have examined rTMS in a very limited sample and have not examined changes in brain or pelvic floor muscle activity to determine the mechanism of rTMS for IC/BPS. This study is designed to directly address these limitations. Read Less

Our current standard of care is to perform an interscalene peripheral nerve block for patients receiving rotator cuff repair surgery as it is an effective opioid-free alternative for post-operative pain control. However, many of these repairs require a supplemental incision for an open biceps tenodesis, which is not covered by the interscalene block. The intercostobrachial nerve covers this incision and is targeted by an axillary ring block or a single shot nerve block in the fascial plane between the pectoralis minor and serratus anterior muscles (otherwise termed as a PECS II block). This study will attempt to delineate if one is superior in postoperative analgesia and mitigating intraoperative stimulation by comparing an axillary ring block to a PECS II block. Patients receiving a rotator cuff repair with biceps tenodesis without histories of chronic opioid use and respiratory compromise will be eligible to be enrolled in the study. All patients will receive an interscalene block and group 1 will receive a supplemental axillary ring block and group 2 will instead receive a PECS II block. After surgery, the patients' pain score will be assessed upon PACU arrival, at 6 hours after block, and 2 weeks postoperatively. Their opioid requirements will also be assessed. Our primary outcome is pain score at 6 hours following the block. Read Less

In this protocol, "Brain imaging biomarkers for response to Spinal Cord Stimulation in patients with chronic low back pain," the investigators plan to perform brain mapping studies in 42 patients who are undergoing spinal cord stimulation (SCS) for chronic low back pain (CLBP) as part of the participants normal clinical care during a 2-year period. This imagining study is completed for research purposes. There is no standard of care imaging for the participants. This study requires two visits in total. During the baseline visit, participants will undergo imaging acquisition protocol and corresponding assessments. Participants will have another follow-up visit (potentially remotely) for final assessments two weeks after the SCS treatment. The objective of the study is to investigate potential imaging biomarkers that can predict response to the SCS treatment. Specifically, the investigators hypothesize that the connectivity of a certain region of the brain (specifically the subgenual cingulate) prior to SCS may serve as a possible pre-operative imaging-based biomarker on response to SCS. The findings of the study may further enhance investigators understanding of the connectivity between brain areas that are critical to the therapeutic response to SCS in CLBP patients and that can be used as a putative biomarker to select patients who may respond to SCS. Read Less

This study aims to test the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) as a non-pharmaceutical intervention to reduce pain and anxiety in children undergoing painful procedures in Phlebotomy, Radiology, Infusion, Orthopedics, Gastroenterology, and Immunology, amongst others, at CHLA, as measured by self- and proxy-report. Examples of the painful procedures include IV sticks, cast removals, allergy testing, and anorectal manometries. Read Less