The purpose of this study is to see the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on the pain and itching associated with burn injury. This study is part of the Boston-Harvard Burn Model System. The investigators hypothesize that there will be a decrease in pain levels with active stimulation, when compared to sham stimulation, using a 3 week stimulation schedule- 2 weeks of stimulation (10 consecutive days) followed by 1 week of stimulation (5 consecutive days) after three follow up visits at 2, 4 and 8 weeks after initial course of stimulation. The subject will also have follow ups at 2, 4 and 8 weeks after the second course of stimulation. If a subject receives sham during the experiment, he/she may enroll in an open-label portion of the study and receive 10 days of active stimulation.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
34
Subjects will undergo 15 sessions of tDCS stimulation (either active or sham), 1x per day at 20 minutes per session.
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Change in Pain Scale
Determine whether anodal transcranial direct current stimulation is effective in reducing pain in subjects with neuropathic pain due to burn injury, as measured by changes in the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI). Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) consist consists of a 9 part questionnaire. The questions include the severity of pain levels (worst, least, average, \& current), the impact of pain on daily functioning in different areas (mood, walking, relationships, sleep, normal work, \& general activity), current treatments and perceived effectiveness of current treatments. The VAS Pain scale is a simple 10- point scale (0 = ''no pain'', 10 = ''pain as bad as you can imagine'') measuring patients' worst pain and least pain, on average and at present time.
Time frame: 2 weeks
Change in Itch Severity/Activity Scale
Determine whether anodal transcranial direct current stimulation is effective in reducing itch severity/activity in subjects with neuropathic itching due to burn injury, as measured by changes in the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) .This is a 0 to 10 scale, where 0 indicates no intensity and a 10 indicates unbearable intensity of itching.
Time frame: 2 weeks
Change in Depression Scale
Determine whether anodal transcranial direct current stimulation is effective in decreasing severity of depression in subjects with neuropathic pain and itching due to burn injury, as measured by changes in the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) contains 21 questions, each answer being scored on a scale value of 0 to 3 (total from 0-63). Higher total scores indicate more severe depressive symptoms.
Time frame: 2 weeks
Change in Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms Scale
Determine whether anodal transcranial direct current stimulation is effective in decreasing post-traumatic stress symptoms in subjects with neuropathic pain and itching due to burn injury, as measured by changes in the Impact of Event Scale Revised (IES-R).This 22-item scale is designed to measure severity of PTS symptoms associated with a traumatic event. Subjects rate their level of distress associated with the event on a 0-4 scale (0 means not at all distressed, 4 means extremely distressed). The IES-R yields a total score (ranging from 0 to 88) where higher scores represent higher stress
Time frame: 2 weeks
Change in Anxiety Scale
Determine whether anodal transcranial direct current stimulation is effective in decreasing severity of anxiety in subjects with neuropathic pain and itching due to burn injury, as measured by changes in the Visual Analog Scale (VAS).This is a self-evaluation scale that ranges from 0 to 10, where 0 means no anxiety and 10 means the worst anxiety ever.
Time frame: 2 weeks
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