NCT05005026

Virtual Walking Intervention for Neuropathic Pain in Spinal Cord Injury

A Multisite Randomized Clinical Trial to Examine the Efficacy and Mechanisms of Immersive Virtual Walking Treatment for Neuropathic Pain in Spinal Cord Injury

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 250 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Texas A&M University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine if playing a virtual reality walking game can help improve neuropathic pain in adults with chronic spinal cord injury.

Detailed description

Many people with SCI experience neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain is often described as sharp, burning, or electric. 'Traditional' treatments often do not do a good job of reducing neuropathic pain. Therefore, it is important to see if 'non-traditional' treatments might work. Scientists think that neuropathic pain occurs in SCI because the sensations coming from the eyes and up the spinal cord to the brain do not match what the brain thinks it told the body to do. This 'mis-match' may result in changes in the brain that make neuropathic pain possible. Virtual reality walking reduces this 'mis-match.' It does this by creating the 'illusion' that the person is walking. The brain then thinks it is telling the body to walk AND the information coming from the eyes matches its instructions. This 'matching' may reverse the brain changes that made neuropathic pain possible. The current study is specifically focused on individuals whose SCI has been classified as complete (ASIA A).

Conditions

• Spinal Cord Injuries
• Neuropathic Pain

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	VR Game 1	Individuals playing VR game 1 will wear a head-mounted display to allow them to visualize virtual legs in the virtual environment. When wearing the display, individuals will see the legs and arms of their virtual avatar from a first-person perspective. Individuals will engage in virtual reality sessions in their home twice daily over the course of 10 days in a two-week period. Each daily session will take approximately 30 minutes, with 5-10 minutes dedicated to the virtual walking experience. Additionally, each daily session will be scheduled a minimum of 4 hours apart.
OTHER	VR Game 2	Individuals playing VR game 2 will wear a head-mounted display to allow them to visualize virtual legs in the virtual environment. When wearing the display, individuals will see the legs and arms of their virtual avatar from a first-person perspective. Individuals will engage in virtual reality sessions in their home twice daily over the course of 10 days in a two-week period. Each daily session will take approximately 30 minutes, with 5-10 minutes dedicated to the virtual walking experience. Additionally, each daily session will be scheduled a minimum of 4 hours apart.

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-11-23
• Primary completion: 2026-09-01
• Completion: 2026-09-01
• First posted: 2021-08-13
• Last updated: 2025-12-17

Locations

3 sites across 2 countries: United States, Australia