Study Status: Recruiting
Recruit Status: Recruiting
Study Type: Interventional
Official Title: Treatment of Pain and Autonomic Dysreflexia in Spinal Cord Injury With Deep Brain Stimulation
Brief Summary:
The Investigators propose an investigation of the safety of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for the alleviation of chronic neuropathic pain in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI).
Aim 1 is to determine whether DBS in the periaqueductal/periventricular gray region (PAG/PVG) of the brain at analgesic intensities produces any systemic or neurological adverse effects in patients with longstanding SCI (>1 year), either immediately or as a result of prolonged application for up 40 weeks.
Aim 2 is to determine whether acute application of DBS in the PAG/PVG influences the severity of spontaneous ongoing pain caused by longstanding SCI.
Aim 3 is to determine whether DBS in the PAG/PVG affects stimulus-evoked or persistent hypertension (a major sign of autonomic dysreflexia) in chronic SCI patients.
Aim 4 is to determine whether prolonged PAG/PVG stimulation (for 40 weeks) leads to cumulative changes in chronic pain severity or in the motor or autonomic symptoms of chronic SCI patients.