NCT00623818

Mirror Therapy for Phantom Limb Pain

Completed Last updated 17 December 2019

What this trial tests

trial in Amputation in 45 participants. Completed in 10 December 2019.

Timeline

5 March 2008

10 December 2019

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Status	Completed
Study type	OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment	45
Start date	5 March 2008
Estimated completion	10 December 2019
Sites	2 locations across United States

Conditions studied

• Amputation — all drugs for Amputation →

Sponsor

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Who can join

Adults 18 to 75, any sex, with Amputation. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

This study, conducted at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and at Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), will explore the phenomenon of phantom limb pain (a continued feeling of pain in an amputated limb) and will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the effect of mirror therapy on phantom limb pain.

Right-handed people between 18 and 75 years of age who are in the WRAMC Military Amputee Research Program and healthy control subjects may be eligible for this study. Participants undergo the following procedures:

Amputees

* Questionnaires to assess strength of handedness and footedness and pain perception.
* Mirror therapy for phantom limb pain five times a week for 4 weeks in 15-minute sessions.
* MRI and fMRI scans before starting mirror therapy, after 2 weeks of therapy and after 4 weeks of therapy. MRI uses a magnetic field and radio waves to image brain tissue. The subject lies on a table that can slide in and out of the scanner (a metal cylinder). The structural MRI scan lasts about 30 minutes. For fMRI, the subject performs tasks while in the scanner in order to show changes in brain activity involved in performing those tasks. Subjects are shown pictures of feet and other body parts, are asked to move their feet, and receive tactile (touch) stimulation of the foot or other body parts.

Control Subjects

One group of control subjects undergoes a single fMRI procedure. A second group of control subjects undergoes the same sequence of three fMRIs over the same time period as the amputee subjects. None of the control subjects undergo mirror therapy.

...

Publications & conference data

1 peer-reviewed publication reference this trial (live from Europe PMC):

1. Trajectory of phantom limb pain relief using mirror therapy: Retrospective analysis of two studies.
   Griffin SC, Curran S, Chan AWY, Finn SB, et al · · 2017 · cited 15× · PMID 28850360 · DOI 10.1016/j.sjpain.2017.01.007