NCT02269839

A Feasibility Study Assessing the Effectiveness of rTMS in Tinnitus

A Feasibility Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Different Modalities of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in the Treatment of Tinnitus

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 40 (actual)
• Sponsor: Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 85 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Tinnitus is a common problem which can have a severe impact on quality of life and for which there is no truly successful treatment available. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a method of stimulating the brain through the application of a magnetic field in a series of rapid pulses and may be a valuable treatment for patients with tinnitus. The overall aim of this research is to see if patients with tinnitus benefit from treatment with rTMS, and in particular whether one type (continuous theta burst) is more effective than other variations of rTMS. Prior to developing a definitive study to address this area a feasibility study needs to be performed. The proposed feasibility study aims to determine outcomes necessary to enable development of a definitive study in the future. 40 patients suffering with idiopathic tinnitus will be randomised into 2 groups, a control group receiving a sham treatment, and an active treatment group receiving theta-burst rTMS on 5 consecutive days.

Detailed description

Tinnitus is a common problem and can have a severe impact on quality of life. At present there is no truly successful treatment available. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a method of stimulating the brain through the application of a magnetic field in a series of rapid pulses. Applying it to the areas of the brain thought to be responsible for tinnitus may offer a valuable treatment for patients. The overall aim of this research is to see if patients with tinnitus benefit from treatment with rTMS, and in particular whether one type (continuous theta burst) is more effective than other variations of rTMS. Prior to developing a definitive study to address this area a feasibility study needs to be performed. The proposed feasibility study aims to determine outcomes necessary to enable development of a definitive study in the future. Particularly to ensure adequate recruitment will be possible and to confirm the acceptability of the study design to participants. We will assess the success of our chosen placebo intervention and blinding method. The variance in change in tinnitus level following treatment will enable a sample size calculation to be performed for use in future studies. 40 patients suffering with idiopathic tinnitus will be randomised into 2 groups, a control group receiving a sham treatment, and an active treatment group receiving theta-burst rTMS on 5 consecutive days. The effect of treatment will be assessed through the use of the Tinnitus Functional Index an existing validated tinnitus questionnaire. Feasibility outcomes will be assessed through monitoring retention and recruitment rates and the use of questionnaires related to feasibility outcomes

Conditions

• Tinnitus

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	rTMS	Active treatment will consist of sessions of continuous theta-burst rTMS on consecutive days for 5 days. This will be delivered with a circular coil to the temporal scalp region overlying the auditory cortex, contralateral to the symptomatic side in unilateral tinnitus and to the left side in bilateral tinnitus. The treatment protocol will consist of treatment at 80% of individual motor threshold (established at the first treatment session) for 600 pulses of 40 seconds duration, which will be repeated after 15 minutes. Each patient will receive 1200 pulses per day.

Timeline

• Start date: 2014-09-01
• Primary completion: 2016-06-01
• Completion: 2016-06-01
• First posted: 2014-10-21
• Last updated: 2016-11-02

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United Kingdom