Body Representation and Neuropathic Pain in Spinal Cord Injury
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Body representation.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Spinal Cord Injury. Basic parameters: from 18 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- France
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
Unsure about the terms? Read our patient guide →
Official title
Investigating the Link Between Body Representation and Neuropathic Pain in Patients with Spinal Cord Injury
Overview
Chronic pain is one of the main complications of spinal cord injury, has a very negative impact on quality of life, and persists over time despite the use of analgesic treatments. Several types of pain are possible in patients with spinal cord injury, and neuropathic pain (pain caused by damage to the spinal cord, in this case) is one of the most difficult to treat, even with medication. Following an injury to the spinal cord, it is possible for the representation of the body to change as a result of sensorimotor deficits, prolonged changes in body posture and altered mobility. At present, the causes of chronic pain after spinal cord injury remain poorly understood and debated, but one hypothesis suggests that changes in body representation may play a key role in the development or worsening of neuropathic pain. To test this hypothesis, we will assess the perception of spinal cord injured patients (and a group of controls) of the size of their legs using a virtual reality device. This measurement will enable us to examine whether under- or over-estimation of leg length correlates with the presence of neuropathic pain in patients. Chronic pain in people with spinal cord injury is associated with an increased risk of stress, depression and anxiety, and understanding and treating neuropathic pain in people with spinal cord injury is a major issue in their management.
Interventions
- Other Body representation
All the participants (controls and patients) in the study will follow the same experimental procedure, which consists of a single virtual reality session involving the estimation of leg length and an object.
Primary outcome measures
- Différences in leg length estimation between controls and patients in the length representation test. [Time frame: From baseline up to a maximum of 2 weeks]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
Patients group:
- Men and women between the ages of 18 and 65;
- Have normal or corrected eyesight;
- Have a spinal cord lesion resulting in total or partial loss of tactile and proprioceptive sensitivity and motor skills in the lower limbs.
- have given their free and informed consent in writing, after having been informed orally and in writing of the study's progress.
Control group:
- Men and women between 18 and 65 years of age
- Have normal or corrected eyesight
- Have given their free and informed written consent after having been informed orally and in writing of the course of the study.
Exclusion criteria
Patients Group:
- People with a diagnosis of Eating Disorder
- People with a diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder that can modify body representations
- People who suffer from physiological discomfort when using gaming headsets or virtual reality
- People under psychiatric care
- Illiterate people
- Pregnant women, women in labour or breastfeeding mothers
- Persons deprived of their liberty by judicial or administrative decision
- Adults under legal protection (guardianship, curatorship)
- Persons not affiliated to a social security scheme or beneficiaries of a similar scheme
Control group:
- People with an eating disorder diagnosis
- People diagnosed with psychiatric disorders that can modify body representations
- People who suffer from physiological discomfort when using gaming headsets or virtual reality
- People under psychiatric care
- Illiterate people
- People with functional neurological motor disorders and/or partial or complete deficits and/or abnormal movements
- People with sensitivity problems in the lower limbs
- Pregnant women, women in labour or breastfeeding mothers
- Persons deprived of their liberty by judicial or administrative decision
- Persons admitted to a health or social establishment for purposes other than research
- Adults under legal protection (guardianship, curatorship)
- Persons not affiliated to a social security scheme or beneficiaries of a similar scheme
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: Yes
Study design
- Observational model
- Case-control
Study locations
France · 2 centers
- Pierre Wertheimer Neurological Hospital — Bron
- Henry Gabrielle Hospital — Saint-Genis-Laval
Identifiers
NCT: NCT06794242 · 69HCL24_0460