Washington Paid Clinical Trials

Sagittal split osteotomy (SSO) is a common operation done to move the mandible to correct dentofacial deformities and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) injury and associated paresthesia is a well-known negative outcome following SSO, causing temporary or sometimes, permanent numbness in the chin and/or lip. There are limited methods to decrease the occurrence and duration of neurosensory dysfunction. Recent research has shown that platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) aids neurosensory recovery after SSO. Another method to minimize nerve injury is proximal segment grooving (PSG) to create space for the nerve to rest. This grooving method has never been formerly reported. The purpose of this study is to answer the following question: Among patients undergoing bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO) for dentofacial deformity or OSA, do those who receive PRF with or without PSG, compared to those who do not, have shorter times to functional sensory recovery (FSR) of the IAN? The null hypothesis is that there is no difference among 4 treatment groups and neurosensory outcomes. The specific aims of this proposal are to 1) enroll and randomize subjects who will undergo BSSO for correction of dentofacial deformity or OSA into 4 different treatment groups (PSG with PRF, PSG alone, PRF alone, neither PSG or PRF), 2) measure objective and subjective post-operative nerve function at fixed intervals post-operatively for up to 1 year, 3) compare differences in neurosensory outcomes among treatment groups, and 4) identify other variables that might be associated with differences in neurosensory outcomes. Read Less

Rationale: Low back pain (LBP), or myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) of the low back, accounts for approximately 2.63 million visits in the United States, or 2.3 percent of annual Emergency Department (ED) visits. An estimated 100 billion dollars per year is lost from LBP. Approximately one-third of this is direct costs. Previous studies have established the safety of trigger point injections (TPI). However, the results of these studies are highly heterogeneous regarding TPI's ability to treat pain or improve functional outcomes. The two most promising TPI studies conducted in the ED have been published in the last two years. They both suffered from a small sample size. Additionally, they suffered from a combination of limitations including: lack of randomization, inconsistent medical management, lack of a follow-up assessment, and lack of patient centered functional outcomes. These studies were both two armed and either compared standard medical management to TPI with local anesthetic or TPI with local anesthetic to TPI with Normal Saline (NS). One of these studies concluded that TPI is generally beneficial. The other concluded that TPI with NS is superior. Research Hypothesis: The investigators hypothesize that standard therapy (ST) plus TPI with 8 mL of 0.5 percent Bupivacaine is superior to ST alone or ST plus TPI with 8 mL of NS for the treatment of the pain associated with MPS of the low back. Significance: This will be the first TPI study to compare ST, to TPI with local anesthetic, and TPI with NS for LBP conducted in an ED. It will also be the first TPI study to incorporate a patient centered functional outcome and patient follow-up after discharge from an ED. TPI's are a popular treatment modality for LBP among many Emergency Medicine Providers. However, to date, there is limited evidence for or against it. The investigators are hopeful that this study will answer whether or not trigger point injections are benefiting patients and, if so, which type of TPI is most beneficial. Read Less

This clinical trial will determine the added benefit of combining exercise and behavioral health education (versus exercise and aging and health education) to improve physical activity in community-dwelling older adults who have painful knee osteoarthritis (OA). Read Less

This study is being done to answer the following question: Is the combination of the Medtronic pump and the Codman catheter device a safe alternative to the C3000 Codman pump for delivering chemotherapy directly into the liver of patients with metastatic colorectal cancer or cholangiocarcinoma? Read Less

Incomplete spinal cord injuries (SCI) are the most frequent neurologic category, comprising 66.7% of all SCI cases. People with incomplete SCI may retain some ability to move the legs and therefore the capacity to regain walking. Studies that show functional improvement in locomotion via electrical stimulation of lumbosacral circuits suggest that the underlying mechanisms are neuromodulation of lumbosacral spinal cord automaticity and sensory feedback. Both epidural and transcutaneous spinal stimulation are demonstrating exciting potential to improve limb function for people after chronic SCI. Available treatment options for SCI are less than satisfactory and most often do not achieve full restoration of function. Recent experimental results suggest an exciting new approach of using electrical spinal stimulation to enable users to regain control of their weak or paralyzed muscles. Using surgically-implanted electrodes, epidural stimulation results in remarkable improvements of lower extremity function as well as autonomic functions such as bladder function and sexual function. In addition to epidural stimulation, over only the last few years a novel strategy of skin surface electrical spinal stimulation has also demonstrated exciting potential for improving walking function. Using a high-frequency stimulation pulse, current can pass through the skin without discomfort and activate the spinal cord; this results in patterned stepping movements for people without SCI and improved lower extremity function following SCI. This study will directly compare skin-surface transcutaneous stimulation with implanted epidural stimulation for improving lower extremity function. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to assemble a multicenter prospective cohort of patients with enterococcal bloodstream infections (BSIs) to provide data on outcomes of patients with enterococcal BSIs for sample size calculations for future trials, as well as to characterize enterococcal isolates causing BSIs in order to comprehensively dissect the molecular epidemiology of infecting organisms for future studies. Read Less

The PHA Registry (PHAR) is a national study about people who have pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). PHAR collects information from people with PAH and CTEPH who are cared for in participating PHA-accredited Pulmonary Hypertension Care Centers throughout the U.S. PHAR will determine how people with PAH and CTEPH are evaluated, tested, and treated, and will observe how well these participants do. The goal is to see if people with PH are treated according to recommended guidelines, and to see if there are certain factors that can lead to better or worse outcomes. PHAR will include information about people with PAH and CTEPH in the U.S. who are seen at participating PHA-accredited PH Care Centers. PHAR contains data about patient care and outcomes. Specifically, data in the PHAR includes information on diagnosis; clinical status; socioeconomic status; diagnosis test results; body size; treatment information; interest in participating in clinical trials; family health and social history; and information about smoking, alcohol, or drug use. Participants are followed over time, and provide updates such as changes in therapy, how often participants need to go to the hospital, and survival. Such information may help healthcare providers provide better care. Read Less

This is a prospective, observational study designed to describe disease progression, symptom change, quality of life, diet and lifestyle habits, and frequency of adverse events among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). In addition to describing the patterns of CAM use, this study will also identify and describe the positive deviants, those individuals with the highest quality of life and least amount of disease activity. Positive deviants will be compared to controls in order to describe medication, diet, and lifestyle patterns associated with a lack of MS disease progression and high quality of life. Read Less

Local injection of 5-fluorouracil into a chalazion (stye) is as effective as local injection of triamcinolone (steroid) and incision and curettage for treatment of chalazia. Read Less

The Biorepository for Caris Life Sciences is designed for the purpose of making quality biospecimens and associated clinical data available for research studies related to advancing precision medicine and improving care for patients. The Caris Biorepository is a repository of prospectively collected biological specimens and associated clinical and demographic data gathered from multiple sources to be stored, used and shared for research. Caris Life Sciences will maintain the data and specimens and will control access to and use of the information and specimens by multiple individuals for multiple purposes which may evolve over time. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to develop a multi-modal protocol for pain management after TURP that minimizes opioid use. The investigators hypothesize this approach will provide non-inferior pain control to the current standard of care which includes opioids as the primary agent. The investigators believe this is an important step in reducing the opioid epidemic in surgical patients. Read Less

Patients with traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI) often suffer from spinal cord swelling inside the thecal sac, which contains the spinal cord and surrounding fluid, leading to increased pressure on the spinal cord tissue and decreased spinal cord blood flow at the site of injury. The combination of increased pressure and decreased blood flow causes vascular hypo-perfusion of the spinal cord and exacerbates the severity of injury. This is also referred to as secondary injury. Thus, knowledge of spinal cord hypo-perfusion would allow the treating physician to optimize the hemodynamic condition of patient with acute spinal cord injury and potentially improve functional outcome. We plan to use contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to determine decrease of blood flow in the spinal cord at the site of injury, during the routine surgery that these patients require to decompress and stabilize their injured spine. This may help us to determine the efficacy of certain treatments in improving blood flow and patients suffering from tSCI. Read Less