23
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      Combined exercise and transcranial direct current stimulation intervention for knee osteoarthritis: protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial

      protocol

      Read this article at

      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Introduction

          Osteoarthritis (OA) is a major health problem and a leading cause of disability. The knee joint is commonly affected, resulting in pain and physical dysfunction. Exercise is considered the cornerstone of conservative management, yet meta-analyses indicate, at best, moderate effect sizes. Treatments that bolster the effects of exercise, such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), may improve outcomes in knee OA. The aims of this pilot study are to (1) determine the feasibility, safety and perceived patient response to a combined tDCS and exercise intervention in knee OA, and (2) provide data to support a sample size calculation for a fully-powered trial should trends of effectiveness be present.

          Methods and analysis

          A pilot randomised, assessor-blind and participant-blind, sham-controlled trial. 20 individuals with knee OA who report a pain score of 40 or more on a 100 mm visual analogue scale on walking, and meet a priori selection criteria will be randomly allocated to receive either: (1) active tDCS plus exercise, or (2) sham tDCS plus exercise. All participants will receive 20 min of either active or sham tDCS immediately prior to 30 min of supervised muscle strengthening exercise twice a week for 8 weeks. Participants in both groups will also complete unsupervised home exercises twice per week. Outcome measures of feasibility, safety, pain, disability and pain system function will be assessed immediately before and after the 8-week intervention. Analyses of feasibility and safety will be performed using descriptive statistics. Statistical analyses will be used to determine trends of effectiveness and will be based on intention-to-treat as well as per protocol.

          Ethics and dissemination

          This study was approved by the institutional ethics committee (H10184). Written informed consent will be obtained from all participants. The results of this study will be submitted for peer-reviewed publication.

          Trial registration number

          ANZCTR365331.

          Related collections

          Most cited references29

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          Descending control of pain.

          Upon receipt in the dorsal horn (DH) of the spinal cord, nociceptive (pain-signalling) information from the viscera, skin and other organs is subject to extensive processing by a diversity of mechanisms, certain of which enhance, and certain of which inhibit, its transfer to higher centres. In this regard, a network of descending pathways projecting from cerebral structures to the DH plays a complex and crucial role. Specific centrifugal pathways either suppress (descending inhibition) or potentiate (descending facilitation) passage of nociceptive messages to the brain. Engagement of descending inhibition by the opioid analgesic, morphine, fulfils an important role in its pain-relieving properties, while induction of analgesia by the adrenergic agonist, clonidine, reflects actions at alpha(2)-adrenoceptors (alpha(2)-ARs) in the DH normally recruited by descending pathways. However, opioids and adrenergic agents exploit but a tiny fraction of the vast panoply of mechanisms now known to be involved in the induction and/or expression of descending controls. For example, no drug interfering with descending facilitation is currently available for clinical use. The present review focuses on: (1) the organisation of descending pathways and their pathophysiological significance; (2) the role of individual transmitters and specific receptor types in the modulation and expression of mechanisms of descending inhibition and facilitation and (3) the advantages and limitations of established and innovative analgesic strategies which act by manipulation of descending controls. Knowledge of descending pathways has increased exponentially in recent years, so this is an opportune moment to survey their operation and therapeutic relevance to the improved management of pain.
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            Better reporting of interventions: template for intervention description and replication (TIDieR) checklist and guide.

            Without a complete published description of interventions, clinicians and patients cannot reliably implement interventions that are shown to be useful, and other researchers cannot replicate or build on research findings. The quality of description of interventions in publications, however, is remarkably poor. To improve the completeness of reporting, and ultimately the replicability, of interventions, an international group of experts and stakeholders developed the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDieR) checklist and guide. The process involved a literature review for relevant checklists and research, a Delphi survey of an international panel of experts to guide item selection, and a face to face panel meeting. The resultant 12 item TIDieR checklist (brief name, why, what (materials), what (procedure), who provided, how, where, when and how much, tailoring, modifications, how well (planned), how well (actual)) is an extension of the CONSORT 2010 statement (item 5) and the SPIRIT 2013 statement (item 11). While the emphasis of the checklist is on trials, the guidance is intended to apply across all evaluative study designs. This paper presents the TIDieR checklist and guide, with an explanation and elaboration for each item, and examples of good reporting. The TIDieR checklist and guide should improve the reporting of interventions and make it easier for authors to structure accounts of their interventions, reviewers and editors to assess the descriptions, and readers to use the information.
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: found
              • Article: not found

              Sensitization in patients with painful knee osteoarthritis.

              Pain is the dominant symptom in osteoarthritis (OA) and sensitization may contribute to the pain severity. This study investigated the role of sensitization in patients with painful knee OA by measuring (1) pressure pain thresholds (PPTs); (2) spreading sensitization; (3) temporal summation to repeated pressure pain stimulation; (4) pain responses after intramuscular hypertonic saline; and (5) pressure pain modulation by heterotopic descending noxious inhibitory control (DNIC). Forty-eight patients with different degrees of knee OA and twenty-four age- and sex-matched control subjects participated. The patients were separated into strong/severe (VAS>or=6) and mild/moderate pain (VAS<6) groups. PPTs were measured from the peripatellar region, tibialis anterior (TA) and extensor carpi radialis longus muscles before, during and after DNIC. Temporal summation to pressure was measured at the most painful site in the peripatellar region and over TA. Patients with severely painful OA pain have significantly lower PPT than controls. For all locations (knee, leg, and arm) significantly negative correlations between VAS and PPT were found (more pain, more sensitization). OA patients showed a significant facilitation of temporal summation from both the knee and TA and had significantly less DNIC as compared with controls. No correlations were found between standard radiological findings and clinical/experimental pain parameters. However, patients with lesions in the lateral tibiofemoral knee compartment had higher pain ratings compared with those with intercondylar and medial lesions. This study highlights the importance of central sensitization as an important manifestation in knee OA.
                Bookmark

                Author and article information

                Journal
                BMJ Open
                BMJ Open
                bmjopen
                bmjopen
                BMJ Open
                BMJ Publishing Group (BMA House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9JR )
                2044-6055
                2015
                21 August 2015
                : 5
                : 8
                : e008482
                Affiliations
                [1 ]University of Western Sydney, School of Science and Health , Penrith, New South Wales, Australia
                [2 ]The University of Melbourne, School of Health Sciences , Parkville, Victoria, Australia
                [3 ]The University of Queensland, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences , St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
                Author notes
                [Correspondence to ] Dr Siobhan M Schabrun; s.schabrun@ 123456uws.edu.au
                Article
                bmjopen-2015-008482
                10.1136/bmjopen-2015-008482
                4550738
                26297371
                c170b237-abaa-440b-aa76-a63c50016627
                Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions

                This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

                History
                : 15 April 2015
                : 18 June 2015
                : 17 July 2015
                Categories
                Rehabilitation Medicine
                Protocol
                1506
                1727
                1736

                Medicine
                Medicine

                Comments

                Comment on this article