NCT04867187

rTMS Efficacy Coupled With Mirror Therapy

Clinical Study of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (RTMS) Efficacy Coupled With Mirror Therapy for Neuropathic Pain Relief

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 64 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 85 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Neuropathic pain is particularly difficult to treat with classic first-line drugs. Neuromodulation techniques using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) are useful alternative, but there is a need to improve their analgesic effect.Virtual reality mirror therapy has shown the capacity to alleviate pain and may be easily coupled with rTMS.The present project will investigate in individuals with neuropathic pain the effects of the rTMS coupled with virtual reality mirror therapy.

Detailed description

This project introduces a new research question that incorporates virtual reality mirror therapy into an established treatment protocol of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for neuropathic pain relief. Neuropathic pain is particularly difficult to treat with classic first-line drugs. Neuromodulation techniques using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) are useful alternative, but there is a need to improve their analgesic effect. Virtual reality mirror therapy has shown the capacity to alleviate pain and may be easily coupled with rTMS. The efficacy of using both techniques in neuropathic pain treatment is unknown. The present project will investigate in individuals with neuropathic pain the effects of the rTMS coupled with virtual reality mirror therapy on: 1) daily pain intensity (i.e. analgesic efficacy); 2) other components of pain and the quality of life; 3) brain activity. It will be the first to provide insight into the efficacy of using together both non-invasive technics of cortical neuromodulation to alleviate pain.

Conditions

• Neuropathic Pain

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)	20 minutes of high frequency (20Hz) rTMS.
OTHER	Mirror therapy using virtual reality	active mirror-based therapy
OTHER	Mirror therapy using sham mirror	20 minutes of sham mirror-based therapy

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-10-27
• Primary completion: 2026-12-01
• Completion: 2027-04-01
• First posted: 2021-04-30
• Last updated: 2025-04-15

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: France