Pilot Trial of Botulinum Toxin and Occupational Therapy for Writer's Cramp
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2016-09-13
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Objective: Writer s cramp (WC) is a form of focal hand dystonia (FHD). Focal injections of
botulinum toxin (BoNT) are the current best therapy. Past studies showed that some types of
rehabilitative therapy can be useful. The hypothesis of this study is that BoNT together with
a specific type of occupational therapy will be better than BoNT alone for treating these
patients. Additionally, studies on WC were hampered by the lack of objective, validated
rating scales. In this pilot study, we will assess the value of a new scale compared with
older scales.
Study population: The study population will consist of 12 WC patients (accrual ceiling of
16).
Design: Patients will be randomized so that 6 patients will receive just BoNT therapy and 6
patients will receive BoNT therapy plus occupational therapy. The physical therapy will
involve specific exercises of finger movements in the direction opposite to the patient s own
dystonic movements, during the writing task. The movements will be isometric against splints
made to suit the individual patient. The final outcome will be assessed after 20 weeks of
treatment. Patients will be evaluated on several scales, including the writer s cramp rating
scale (WCRS) and writer s cramp impairment scale (WCIS), and will also be videotaped. The
primary outcome will be based on patient reported subjective scale and the secondary outcomes
will be assessed by four blinded raters of the videotapes, done both before and after
treatment.
Outcome measures: The primary outcome is to show additional improvement from baseline with
BoNT therapy plus occupational therapy compared to BoNT alone at 20 weeks using a
patient-rated subjective scale. The secondary outcomes are to show improvement in scores of
WCRS, WCIS, WCDS, and writing parameters with a new handwriting analysis program.
Additionally, the scores obtained from WCRS and WCIS will be compared.
Phase:
Phase 1/Phase 2
Details
Lead Sponsor:
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)