Cerebral Palsy clinical trials at UCLA

2 in progress, 1 open to eligible people

Showing trials for

  • Pain Injection Versus Epidural Anesthesia for Hip Surgery in Pediatric Patients With Cerebral Palsy

    open to eligible people ages up to 18 years

    Pain management in pediatric patients presents a difficult challenge. Unlike adults, pediatric patients often cannot communicate their pain management needs clearly. This is especially true in patients with cerebral palsy (CP), who often have concomitant developmental delay, intellectual disability and verbal limitations. Current literature indicates pain as a common experience for children with CP but has been understudied in this population. Moreover, inadequate post-operative pain control can result in negative physiologic and psychological complications and lead to poor surgical outcomes. Currently, perioperative pain management following orthopaedic procedures in pediatric patients follows traditional protocols that rely on the administration of opioid medications despite their known adverse side effects including nausea, vomiting, itching, constipation, urinary retention, confusion, and respiratory depression. Epidural anesthesia is a key modality in traditional pain management for pediatric patients with CP given its proven efficacy in decreasing pain and managing spasticity. Yet, administering epidural anesthesia in this patient population poses several risks including damage to preexisting intrathecal baclofen pumps, iatrogenic infection, and technically demanding insertion given high rates of concomitant neuromuscular scoliosis. Alternatively, multimodal analgesic injections theoretically offer an efficacious adjunct to traditional pain management protocols with a lower risk profile. Preliminary data from our study group's pilot randomized control trial comparing the safety and efficacy of a multimodal surgical site injection to placebo showed decreased pain scores and narcotic consumption postoperatively in this patient population. Based on these promising results, the objective of this randomized control trial is to evaluate the efficacy of a multimodal surgical site injection compared to epidural anesthesia for postoperative pain control following operative management of hip dysplasia in pediatric patients with CP.

    Los Angeles, California and other locations

  • Pediatric Neural Sleeve Validation

    Sorry, not yet accepting patients

    In individuals with cerebral palsy (CP), signals from the brain to the muscles that are required for coordinated walking are either poorly controlled or absent. This results in abnormal walking (or gait) patterns and difficulty with independent movement. The purposes of this study is to test a device - a wearable leg sleeve - that can measure the abnormal signals sent from the brain to the muscles and the resulting movements and then send signals to the muscles to help make walking easier and smoother. 20 participants with, and 10 participants without, CP are being asked to come to test the device at the Kameron Gait and Motion Analysis Center. This requires one visit, which will last approximately 2-4 hours. During this visit, participants will undergo a physical exam and will be fit for the device on their leg. The participant will be asked to move their legs while the device is on to calibrate the device, and then the participants will walk while the device is interpreting their movement patterns. Participants with cerebral palsy will additionally walk with the device on their leg in a "corrective mode," where the device will provide stimulation to certain muscles in their leg in order to improve the patient's walking pattern. Last, participants will complete an instrumented gait analysis. Gait analysis involves recording movement patterns during walking using small reflective markers and sensor taped to the participant's legs and trunk. A series of cameras and computers are used to record the leg position and the walking speed. This data will be compared to the data provided from the device.

    Los Angeles, California

Our lead scientists for Cerebral Palsy research studies include .