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NeuromaTMRNCT02205385

Targeted Reinnervation as a Means to Treat Neuromas Associated With Major Limb Amputation

A study testing Targeted Muscle Reinnervation and Traction Neurectomy in people with Neuroma and Neuroma Amputation, run by Northwestern University at 6 sites in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Subjects are being asked to participate in this study because they have an arm or leg amputation and have developed pain related to a neuroma (an ongoing localized pain related to a cut nerve ending). We are studying two different types of surgery to treat the neuroma pain. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Neuroma, Neuroma Amputation, Pain
What is being tested?
Targeted Muscle Reinnervation and Traction Neurectomy
Type of treatment
Surgery or procedure
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
27 participants
Where
6 sitesUnited States
Study dates
Oct 2014to 1 Jan 2018
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 years and older
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Adult, 18 years or older: the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) questionnaire is not validated for pain-related evaluation in minors
  • An upper limb amputation above the wrist with or without a residual limb or a lower limb amputation above the ankle with a residual limb (individuals with a hip disarticulation amputation lack suitable target muscles for TR)
  • A neuroma within the residual limb: defined as patient-reported chronic localized pain consistent with a physical exam that demonstrates that the pain is related to a cut nerve and excludes other causes. There must be a supporting Tinel's sign on physical exam, MRI findings suggestive of a neuroma, or localization of a neuroma by prior intervention (surgical or otherwise) to distinguish the pain from phantom limb pain or cold intolerance that are nonspecific signs of nerve damage that would not be affected by treatment of a neuroma.
  • English or Spanish speaking: the PROMIS questionnaire is available in English and parts are currently available in Spanish. The portions that are currently unavailable in Spanish will be translated into Spanish for the purposes of this study.

Who cannot join

  • Prior TR Surgery: these patients have already had a procedure to improve their prosthetic function and in these cases the nerves have been shortened. To perform a second TR procedure with the previously shortened nerves would require a significant proximal dissection and potentially greater soft tissue morbidity than the standard treatment.
  • Cognitive impairment, due to TBI or other causes, sufficient to adversely affect understanding of or compliance with study requirements, ability to respond to questionnaires, or ability to give informed consent: The ability to understand and comply with requirements of the study is essential in order for the study to generate useable, reliable data. The ability to obtain relevant feedback through questionnaires is essential to this study.
  • Pre-operative assessment that precludes the patient from being eligible for TR or control surgery due to technical surgical concerns.
  • Significant other comorbidity: Any other medical issues or injuries that would preclude safe administration of anesthesia or surgical intervention.
  • Participation in other ongoing studies related to neuropathic pain.

Trial locations and contacts

6 sites in 1 country.

6 sites in 1 country

United States6 sites
  • Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

    Bethesda, Maryland, 20889-5600

  • Northwestern University

    Chicago, Illinois, 60611

  • The Ohio State University

    Columbus, Ohio, 43212

  • Vanderbilt University Medical Center

    Nashville, Tennessee, 37232

  • University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 73104

  • San Antonio Military Medical Center

    San Antonio, Texas, 78234

Other trials in United States

About this study

Subjects are being asked to participate in this study because they have an arm or leg amputation and have developed pain related to a neuroma (an ongoing localized pain related to a cut nerve ending).

We are studying two different types of surgery to treat the neuroma pain. Today there are many surgical options reported which often means that there is no one best treatment. The surgery that shows the best success so far, involves cutting out the scarred nerve ending (neuroma) and burying the freshly cut nerve ending in a nearby muscle. Recently, a new surgery has been developed called targeted reinnervation (TR). This surgery connects these cut nerve endings to nerves going into nearby nonfunctional muscles. This surgery was developed to allow amputees to have better prosthesis control. By chance, neuroma pain improved significantly with TR. We, therefore, are conducting this clinical trial to evaluate which of these two surgeries best treats neuroma pain. We will ask all participants to fill out a questionnaire both before and after surgery. This will help us understand how a neuroma affects the quality of life of amputees and will allow us to understand which surgery leads to the best improvement in neuroma pain.

In order to confirm the presence and location of the neuroma before surgery, a magnetic resonance image (MRI) will be performed. Taking these pictures requires subjects to lie still for a short period of time but does not involve any invasive procedures. After surgery, the MRI will be done again, this time to see if the nerve shows signs of scarring.

Read the detailed description

Loss of an arm or leg is a significant injury that affects a person's job prospects, personal relationships, and overall quality of life. Approximately 25% of all amputees will develop chronic local pain in the remaining part of their amputated limb. This pain is caused by neuromas- disorganized nerve endings and scar tissue that form when an injured nerve tries to heal. Every cut nerve will develop a neuroma unless the two ends of the nerve can be rejoined. With limb amputation, the nerves are cut and one end is lost with the limb, preventing the nerve from repairing itself. Instead, the cut nerve ending forms a painful neuroma. Chronic pain from neuromas is a major reason that amputees cannot wear or use their prostheses comfortably and increases their disability. The current standard surgical treatment for a neuroma is to cut if off and bury the nerve ending in a muscle, to provide cushioning when the neuroma grows back. Even though this is the best current treatment, it is not always successful.

Even when a limb is amputated, the nerves that used to control that limb still carry messages from the brain. Those messages are intended to tell the muscles how or when to move the missing limb, but after amputation, these limb-control nerves are no longer connected to muscles. In 2002, researchers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in conjunction with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago developed a new type of surgery called targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR). In TMR, limb-control nerves are transferred so that they can control new target muscles. The neuromas from the limb-control nerves are removed, then the small nerve that controls the target muscle is cut. The two nerves are joined together so that the limb-control nerve can then grow into, or reinnervate the target muscle. After TMR, when the person tries to move the missing limb, the target muscle contracts instead and these signals can be detected and used to control a prosthesis. TMR has now been done successfully almost 100 times worldwide. Interestingly, almost all of the patients who had painful neuromas before TMR had no neuroma pain after surgery. This result was investigated in laboratory studies - both rat and rabbit amputee neuromas were "cured" with TMR. We think that giving the cut nerve endings somewhere to go and something to do prevents a neuroma from forming.

We plan to compare TMR versus the current standard surgical treatment for painful neuromas. We will measure the effectiveness of both surgeries using an internet-based amputee pain questionnaire. We will also use magnetic resolution imaging (MRI) to look at the nerves before and after surgery. We have received a grant to complete a 4 year study in four hospitals across the US, in around 200 patients, making this the largest neuroma study ever performed. We expect that TMR will be significantly more effective for neuroma pain than the standard treatment. This will change how patients with neuroma pain are treated and help thousands of patients with amputations.

Being tested
Targeted Muscle Reinnervation, Traction Neurectomy
Keywords
Neuroma, Amputee, Amputation Stump, Assessment, Pain
Medical subject headings
Neuroma, Pain

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Targeted Muscle ReinnervationProcedure or surgery

    Also called Targeted Reinnervation

  • Traction NeurectomyProcedure or surgery

Study groups in NCT02205385
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Traditional Traction NeurectomyActive comparatorPatients will be randomized to either the current standard of care surgical treatment for neuromas (traction neurectomy) or the experimental intervention (targeted reinnervation). This arm involves the use of the current standard of care surgical treatment. Patients will undergo the same pre-operative evaluation, anesthesia, and dissection to identify the painful residual limb neuroma(s). In the active comparator arm, gentle traction will be applied to the nerve while excising the neuroma (traction neurectomy) allowing the nerve to retract more proximally. It may be buried in healthy muscle to further pad the nerve ending. The intention is to place the inevitable recurrent end-neuroma away from superficial locations in which it is likely to become mechanically irritated.
Receives: Procedure: Traction Neurectomy
Targeted Muscle ReinnervationExperimentalPatients will be randomized to either the current standard of care surgical treatment for neuromas (traction neurectomy) or the experimental intervention (targeted reinnervation). This arm involves the use of the experimental surgical treatment. Patients will undergo the same pre-operative evaluation, anesthesia, and dissection to identify the painful residual limb neuroma(s). Targeted muscle reinnervation involves transfer of residual nerves to otherwise redundant target muscles. Native motor innervation of the target muscle is cut, and the residual nerves-after excision of end-neuromas-are coapted to the motor end point of the motor nerve, close to its point of entry into the muscle.
Receives: Procedure: Targeted Muscle Reinnervation

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Improvement in pain of the amputated limb after surgery

    Difference in patient-reported pain scores before and after surgical treatment using the online survey tool.

    Compare patient-reported pre-operative survey results to those after surgical intervention at intervals over time (1 month, 3 months,6 months, 9 months,1 year, and then every six months thereafter until the conclusion of the study).

    Measured: 12 months

Secondary outcomes (2)
  1. Improvement in physical functioning, including prosthesis wear, after surgery

    Using the same PROMIS platform, general health, physical functioning (including functional prosthesis wear), and satisfaction following surgery will also be assessed as important secondary outcomes, resulting in a more comprehensive and objective understanding of the effects of the two surgical approaches on neuroma pain.

    Another particularly useful tool for this study is the Orthotics and Prosthetics User Survey (OPUS) Functional Status. The OPUS is a validated instrument that assesses how well patients are using their prostheses. Thus, we will examine a very important secondary measure of neuroma pain-the ability to use a prosthesis. Prosthesis use is often the primary problem for individuals with painful neuromas; they hurt most during walking with a prosthesis or when wearing a prosthetic arm. Thus we expect OPUS to be a useful additional measure for quantifying the outcomes of the two types of neuroma surgeries

    Measured: 12 months

  2. Using MRI as a tool to determine if targeted muscle reinnervation prevents neuroma recurrence

    In our study, pre- and post-operative neuroma size (at one year) will be quantified using MRI scans. Pre-operative MRI measurements will be compared to the removed neuroma specimen to verify the accuracy of the modality. Post-operative MRI measurements will be used to assess whether a neuroma recurred at the site of the surgery and to determine the size of any new lesion.

    Measured: 1 year

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted31 Jul 2014 (estimated)
  2. Study startOct 2014
  3. Primary completion1 Jan 2018
  4. Study completion1 Jan 2018

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
Single blind
Who is masked
Participant
Enrolment
27 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT02205385
Sponsor's protocol ID
TMR Neuroma
Other IDs
OR120021
Acronym
TMR
Status last verified
Jan 2018
First submitted
23 Jul 2014
Last updated
3 Jan 2018
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No

Publications

  • Dumanian GA, Potter BK, Mioton LM, Ko JH, Cheesborough JE, Souza JM, Ertl WJ, Tintle SM, Nanos GP, Valerio IL, Kuiken TA, Apkarian AV, Porter K, Jordan SW. Targeted Muscle Reinnervation Treats Neuroma and Phantom Pain in Major Limb Amputees: A Randomized Clinical Trial. Ann Surg. 2019 Aug;270(2):238-246. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000003088.

    PubMed 30371518

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Targeted Muscle Reinnervation and Traction Neurectomy in people with Neuroma and Neuroma Amputation, run by Northwestern University at 6 sites in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 5 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 3 Jan 2018. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 6 sites in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Improvement in pain of the amputated limb after surgery (time frame: 12 months). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT02205385, which also lists 1 linked publication.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 3 Jan 2018.

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