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Effects of Combined Treatment With tDCS and Cognitive Training in Patients With Fibromyalgia

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Fibromyalgia
Interventions
Device: tDCS-Active
Device: tDCS-Sham
Other: Cognitive training
Registration Number
NCT02880917
Lead Sponsor
Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre
Brief Summary

Chronic pain represents an important health problem responsible for decreases in quality of life, and is associated with great negative impact in society and economy. In many cases, its treatment does not reach therapeutic success causing health professionals and patients dissatisfaction. Chronic pain is also associated with somatization, hopelessness and catastrophizing thinking. These information processing includes sensorial, emotional and cognitive-appraisal thinking, which manifests the working of neural networks at cortical and sub-cortical levels. Attention and memory are a central aspect in the processing of pain modulation. Like in addictions (e.g. smoking, alcohol), chronic pain may debut with displacement in the focus of attention and alterations in the sensorial processing in the incentive-motivation tests. Considering that other studies have indicated that experimental and clinical pain is capable of modulating cognitive activities such as attention,memory and expectation, in this study the investigators will test whether cognitive training, tDCS, or the combination of both interventions decrease cognitive deficits associated with Fibromyalgia

Detailed Description

Will be included women aged between 18 and 65 years, chronic pain fibromyalgia according to the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology, pain unresponsive to analgesics such as paracetamol, acetylsalicylic acid, ibuprofen, Carisoprodol, Zanaflex (Tizanidine) and Codeine and give informed consent to participate after initial evaluation. Primary outcome is to Evaluate whether the tDCS associated with cognitive retraining technique is able to modulate attentional bias in fibromyalgia patients. Secondary outcomes are: compare the effect of active tDCS and sham in: Assessed with the Visual Analog Scale for 8 days, Functional capacity, Conditional pain modulation (CPM), Maximal Heat Pain tolerance,Catastrophic thinking,Serum levels of Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), Beck Depression Inventory, forward and backward digit span( WAIS),Pittsburgh sleep quality and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) test.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
Female
Target Recruitment
40
Inclusion Criteria
  • Female patients
  • literate
  • right-handed
  • 18 to 65 years of age
  • who meet the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) for fibromyalgia.
Exclusion Criteria
  • Pregnant women
  • Contraindications to tDCS
  • Metal implant in the brain
  • History of alcohol or drug abuse in the last six months
  • History of neurological disorders
  • Unexplained fainting
  • Self-reports of head injury or momentary loss of awareness
  • Neurosurgery.
  • Will also be excluded patients who have decompensated systemic diseases and / or chronic inflammatory diseases (ex .: lupus, rheumatoid arthritis).

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Cognitive training+ tDCs-ShamCognitive trainingtDCs Sham dorsolateral prefrontal cortex ((2mA,20 min) and Cognitive training (20min) at the same time.
Cognitive training + tDCs-ActivetDCS-ActivetDCs active left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (2mA,20 min) and Cognitive training (20min) at the same time.
Cognitive training + tDCs-ActiveCognitive trainingtDCs active left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (2mA,20 min) and Cognitive training (20min) at the same time.
Cognitive training+ tDCs-ShamtDCS-ShamtDCs Sham dorsolateral prefrontal cortex ((2mA,20 min) and Cognitive training (20min) at the same time.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Evaluate whether the tdcs associated with cognitive training technique or the combination of both interventions decrease memory deficits associated with Fibromyalgia.8 days

I will use the rey auditory-verbal learning test(RAVLT) to evaluate the memory functions of patients with fibromyalgia, before and after treatment with TDCS and cognitive training.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Pain8 days

Assessed with the Visual Analog Scale for 8 days

Scale Functional capacity--(Using The Brazilian Portuguese version of the Profile of Chronic Pain.)2 days

Measurement of functional capacity pre and pos application tDCS with scale functional capacity in chronic pain.

Test -Conditional pain modulation (CPM)2 days-pre and pos application tDCS

The protocol for heat pain threshold is repeated while the contralateral hand is placed on iced water. The pain due to heat and cold reported on a Visual Analog Scale are recorded.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Hospital de Clinicas de Porto Alegre

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Porto Alegre, Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil

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