Clinical Trials Involving CRPS/RSD, Chronic Pain, etc.
Clinical trials are a standardized, valuable, necessary set of experiments carried out by the owner of a potential new drug, at their expense. There are three phases in this series.
Phase I - the new drug is given to a small (30-80) group of healthy volunteers, to determine its safety and identify side-effects. Dose optimization is usually begun at this stage.
Phase II - involving larger (100-300) test groups, where the volunteers have the condition being treated, to gauge the new drug's effectiveness (efficacy) and to further evaluate its side-effect profile.
Phase III - the potential new drug is evaluated in large (1000-3000 or more, often in multiple locations) groups of volunteers who have the condition being treated. This phase is the most important (and expensive) part of a clinical trial, in which drug efficacy is confirmed, side-effects are monitored, the drug is compared to others used to treat the condition, and other data are gathered to provide as much information as possible for the FDA to decide whether to allow the new drug to be sold.
The following links help explain clinical trials in more detail and allow you to find current trials being conducted involving treatments for CRPS/RSD, chronic pain, etc. The banner below is probably the most efficient way to keep track of what trials are going on near you! (It's a wide page, so it will open in a new tab/window.)
Learn More about Clinical Trials
The Basics - NIH Clinical Research Trials and You An excellent, thorough article from the NIH, which not only outlines exactly what's involved in trials, but also answers common questions asked by folks who are considering becoming involved in a trial.
CenterWatch The first site to collect trials information for potential volunteers, this is totally dedicated to information about trials, including topics like how to volunteer, informed consent, post clinical trials, etc.
Clinical Research Studies Protocol Database A simple search protocol, enabling a search of all current trials based on diagnosis, symptoms, signs, or other keywords.
Clinical Trial Information for Study Participants & Doctors "a comprehensive resource for trusted information about medical research studies, also called clinical trials. "
Clinical Trials: MedlinePlus Interactive Health Tutorial A wonderful resource about the trials process, via either self-playing or interactive tutorials. A fun, easy way to learn all about the clinical trials process.
Clinical Trials.gov "a registry and results database of publicly and privately supported clinical studies of human participants conducted around the world." This is the granddaddy of all trials sites, upon which many others are based!
Find Clinical Trials of Interest to You
Clinical Trials involving CRPS Currently, there are 43 trials listed, from some which have just completed to those which have not yet begun recruiting volunteers. You can easily remove trials that are complete, and learn much about those which interest you - location, number of volunteers desired, any compensation, etc.
Clinical Trials involving RSD There were 13 trials listed when this page was created. Obviously, there is some overlap with CRPS trials, but there are enough trials specifying one or the other to warrant separate groupings.
Complex Regional Pain Syndrome - Clinical trials Although hosted in the UK, this database is the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry, and the first thing visitors do is select the country in which they wish to locate trials.
Search the Studies - NIH Clinical Research Studies a site run by NIH, which is quick and very easy to use. Just "Enter the diagnosis, sign, symptom, or other key words or phrases", and hit the Search button! Give it a try; it's a great resource.
