Galveston, TX Paid Clinical Trials

Management of severe injuries to the heel (displaced intra-articular calcaneus fractures) continues to be a major challenge for orthopedic surgeons. Previous studies have demonstrated poor outcomes, and results show that patients experience long-term pain and decreased quality of life postoperatively. Poor outcomes are driven by pain, in particular, which is linked to post-traumatic subtalar arthritis. Read Less

This study is examining the effects of standard of care cancer treatment as well as a medication called Sildenafil, on the cancer associated fatigue, cognition and the gut microbiome. Read Less

The aim of this study is characterize the gastrointestinal microbiomes of patient with solid cancer undergoing standard of care treatment with programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) /programmed cell death ligand (PD-L1) blockade. Read Less

Latino(a)s suffer from poor social determinants of health (SODH) conditions more than non-minority populations, and being a minority is risk factor alone for diabetes. In the proposed study, investigators will assist church members in becoming Community Health Workers (CHWs), train them in diabetes, and to track the ability to address healthcare access and quality barriers using an online platform. Read Less

This project is a 2-phase, randomized clinical trial that includes 7 days of unilateral leg disuse (Phase 1), immediately followed by 1 week of bilateral leg rehabilitation (Phase 2). The investigators will recruit cohorts of healthy middle-aged men and women to address their aims: * Demonstrate the sex-specific effects of skeletal muscle disuse (Phase 1) * Identify key molecular determinates of susceptibility of skeletal muscle atrophy (Phase 1) * Map the early, sex-specific molecular time-course of rehabilitation (Phase 2) * Determine if disused and healthy muscle respond similarly to exercise (Phase 2) Healthy, middle-age men and post-menopausal women (50-65 years) will be recruited from the greater Houston/Galveston area. This under-represented research demographic demonstrate few negative metabolic or phenotypic signs of advanced age, but are at increased risk of being hospitalized and experiencing accelerated loss of lean mass and muscle function that parallels a much older population. The goal of this study is to characterize phenotypic and molecular skeletal muscle changes in middle-aged men and women during critical periods of disuse and rehabilitation and ultimately direct the development of targeted and effective prevention and treatment strategies. Read Less

The aim of this study is to characterize the microbiome and assess fatigue and cognition of patients with cancer undergoing standard of care treatment. Read Less

In order to deliver nonhormonal vaginal contraceptive using anti-sperm antibodies, a new vaginal ring design using a capsule-IVR will be utilized. Evaluating the safety and acceptability of this device early in the product development cycle is important, not only because device/formulation characteristics become increasingly difficult to alter as product is advanced into clinical trials, but also because user adherence can directly impact clinical trial outcomes. Read Less

The goal of this study is to determine whether administration of sildenafil will decrease urine leakage in patients with spinal cord injuries. Read Less

Ventilator associated events (VAE) is a quality metric defined by 48 hours of stability followed by 48 hours of escalation of ventilator settings within the ICU. VAE have been associated with poor outcomes and increases the cost of care, yet is not easy to avoid. Operationalizing all the standards of care known to improve outcomes of those requiring mechanical ventilation in the critical care environment requires a comprehensive approach. ICU teams are encouraged to follow best practice protocols to help liberate and prevent VAEs. Yet, compliance with protocols in most ICUs is suboptimal for multiple reasons. With the advent of computerized mechanical ventilators capable of streaming data from breath to breath and biomedical integration systems (BMDI) such as Capsule (UTMB's BMDI system), software systems have been developed to help identify variances in the standard of care. Automation in near real-time ventilator data feedback has been shown to reduce the incidences of VAEs. This quality improvement project will leverage Vyaire's Respiratory Knowledge Portal (RKP) to collect and store meaningful data regarding ventilator-associated events (VAE), alarm policy compliance, ventilator weaning, and lung protective analytics. Goals: 1. To collect quality metrics utilizing RKP from patients requiring mechanical ventilation over a 3-4-month period for a retrospective baseline analysis. 2. Provide the RKP tool to the ICU team to determine if the use of RKP's webportal and Messenger Zebra phone app improves quality of mechanical ventilation and outcomes. 3. To determine a return on investment (ROI) for a software system like RKP. Read Less

The use of imaging is increasing in clinical practice, either for diagnosis or intervention. In these imaging processes, contrast medium (CM) is widely used. However, CM administration can induce contrast-induced nephropathy (CI-AKI). CI-AKI is the third most common cause of renal insufficiency, and its incidence varies from 2% to 50% depending on patient risk factors; in addition, studies have shown that CI-AKI occurs in 2% to 25% of patients undergoing coronary intervention. CI-AKI is associated with significant mortality and morbidity in patients undergoing coronary angiography or other diagnostic contrast studies. We assessed the latest promising evidence on the ability of remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) to reduce the incidence of CI-AKI in patients undergoing Coronary Angiogram (CA) or diagnostic contrast studies such as CT angiogram, while at the same time being a non-invasive, low cost, easy, and safe method with absence of adverse effects. However, more randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm these preliminary results. The aim of this study is to minimize the incidence of CI-AKI at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). If found to be an effective method, RIPC would help minimize the incidence of CI-AKI in all institutions across the globe, who would adopt this intervention. The primary objective: i) reduce the rise in creatinine to \< 0.5 mg/dL post-CA in moderate to high risk patients and ii) reduce the incidence of renal replacement therapy post-CA in moderate to high risk patients; iii) we also aim to establish that RIPC is safe and effective. We hypothesize that the use of RIPC, when added to standard medical therapy (pre-and post-CA hydration), will mitigate the effects of contrast on the renal vasculature and lessen the incidence of CI-AKI in moderate to high risk patients at the University of Texas Medical Branch. The use of iodinated contrast to visually enhance target vasculature is a widely used diagnostic technique that is performed daily at UTMB, and around the world, for the diagnosis and management of a variety of conditions. A common complication of this procedure is acute kidney injury (AKI), generally referred to as contrast-induced nephropathy (CI-AKI). This complication can range from an isolated rise in serum creatinine to severe renal dysfunction necessitating renal replacement therapy. The incidence of CI-AKI has been reported as approximately 2-50%, depending upon the definition and sensitivity of assay employed to assess GFR in the hospital setting. In addition, CI-AKI is associated with significant mortality and morbidity. If proven to be beneficial, RIPC will bring about a reduction in incidence of CI-AKI, and thus help to reduce hospitalization and mortality from renal etiology following a given contrast procedure. Read Less

The purpose of the study is to see whether using diphenhydramine (Benadryl), famotidine (Pepcid), and cromolyn sodium will decrease burn scar itch. Read Less

This research study aims to understand the relationship between brain stimulation and leg skill learning in both healthy adults and persons with chronic stroke. Read Less