VIRTUAL WALKING AND TRANSCRANIAL DIRECT CURRENT STIMULATION FOR CHRONIC NEUROPATHIC PAIN DUE TO SPINAL CORD INJURY
Key facts
- Who runs it
- Swiss Paraplegic Research, Nottwil
- Where
- Switzerland1 site in 1 countryChoose a country to see its sites
- Trial code
- Status
- Completed
- People taking part
- 4 people enrolled
- Started
- 1 Oct 2024
- Ended
- 1 Apr 2025
- Type of study
- Interventional
- Treatments tested
- Virtual walking and transcranial direct current stimulation
- Record updated
- 20 November 2025
Who can take part
- Age
- 18 years to 75 years
- Sex
- Women and men
- Healthy volunteers
- Cannot take part
The registry criteria, word for word
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Who can take part
- Age ≥ 18y, ≤ 75y
- traumatic SCI (> 6 month after SCI) with a SCI severity grade AIS A, B, C or D
- At or below level spinal cord injury neuropathic pain on trunk or lower extremities according to the ISCIP classification (Bryce et al., 2012) of at least 4/10 intensity on a NRS (Langford et al., 2023) with in the last 7 days (WiderströmNoga et al., 2023)
- Good communication in German to understand the instructions, assessments and to fill in questionnaires
- Adequate siting balance
- Ability to draw with a pencil
- Ability to swing arms
Who cannot take part
- Previous brain surgery
- Metal implants in the skull or brain, including cochlear implants, intracranial electrodes or a pacemaker (Datta et al., 2010)
- Drugs that affect cortical excitability (McLaren et al., 2018): Alcohol, Amphetamines, Theophylline (asthma treatment), Chlorpromazine, Clozapine, Amitriptyline, Doxepine, Imipramine, Maprotiline, Nortriptyline, Foscarnet, Ganciclovir, Ritonavir, Amphetamines, Cocaine, Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), Ketamine, MDMA, ecstasy Phencyclidine
- Previous adverse effects of stimulation with tDCS
- severe psychiatric disorder requiring psychiatric hospitalisation or mental disease that could interfere with their ability to participate
- A scalp or skin condition (e.g. psoriasis or eczema)
- History of epilepsy or seizure
- Pregnancy (anamnestic)
- Inability to give consent
This trial has no sites in United States.
It has sites in one country. Choose a country to see its sites.
About the trial
What the trial wants to find out
The goal of this feasibility study is to assess the feasibility of the combined treatment intervention "virtual walking (VW) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)" of neuropathic pain in patients with spinal cord injury. The main question aims to answer:
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• To assess the feasibility of combining VW and tDCS for longer-term use from the patients' point of view.
Participants will:
Receive a two week intervention in the Swiss Paraplegic Centre in Nottwil, where the participants undergo VW and tDCS for ten sessions, each lasting around 20 minutes.
The participants keep a diary and a pain drawing of their symptoms and will fill out some questionnaires about their impression of feasibility, the pain intensity, chronicity, the impression of change, depression, anxiety, stress and adverse events. At the beginning and end of the study the participants will be interviewed about their expectations, hopes and the feasibility of the procedures from a participants point of view.
The group in the trial
- Virtual walking and transcranial direct current stimulation of 2 milliampere for 20 minutesTreatment being tested
Treatment: Virtual walking and transcranial direct current stimulation
Data and sources
- Registry record
- Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Official title
- VIRTUAL WALKING AND TRANSCRANIAL DIRECT CURRENT STIMULATION (TDCS) FOR CHRONIC NEUROPATHIC PAIN DUE TO SPINAL CORD INJURY (SCI): A FEASIBILITY STUDY
- Record updated
- 20 November 2025