Noxipoint Therapy Versus Standard Physical Therapy Using Electrical Stimulation for Chronic Pain
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ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01578148 |
Recruitment Status
:
Completed
First Posted
: April 16, 2012
Last Update Posted
: April 24, 2013
|
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The purpose of this study is to validate the efficacy of Noxipoint(TM) therapy on chronic pain, and compare it with standard physical therapy using electrical stimulation on patients with chronic pain.
Invented by Dr. Charlie Koo at Stanford University, Noxipoint Therapy is a specific procedure with precise location, duration and intensity of TENS stimulation within the general FDA guidelines. The therapy substantially relieves general muscular/tendon pain and persistently restores the muscle and tendon function. The surface locations of nociceptors at the free nerve ending (i.e., "Noxipoints") are focused on in the stimulation therapy. Multiple clinical uses of Noxipoint Therapy confirmed the consistent efficacy of such stimulation at Noxipoints. An observational study of Noxipoint therapy within the FDA-approved use of TENS demonstrated an encouraging 93% success rate in eliminating the chronic pain, such as frozen shoulder pain, within 2-3 sessions. It is an order-of-magnitude improvement over the non-specific application of TENS and any other modalities in pain treatment. A unique neuro-immuno-signaling pathway that implicates the activation of adult stem cells, such as satellite cells in muscles, is implicated based on such a high success rate.
Condition or disease | Intervention/treatment | Phase |
---|---|---|
Shoulder Pain Neck Pain | Procedure: Noxipoint Therapy Procedure: Physical Therapy | Not Applicable |
Study Type : | Interventional (Clinical Trial) |
Actual Enrollment : | 34 participants |
Allocation: | Randomized |
Intervention Model: | Parallel Assignment |
Masking: | Double (Participant, Outcomes Assessor) |
Primary Purpose: | Treatment |
Official Title: | Noxipoint Therapy vs. Standard Physical Therapy Using Electrical Stimulation for Chronic Pain |
Study Start Date : | April 2012 |
Actual Primary Completion Date : | February 2013 |
Actual Study Completion Date : | February 2013 |
Arm | Intervention/treatment |
---|---|
Experimental: Noxipoint Therapy |
Procedure: Noxipoint Therapy
Patients will be treated with a TENS device, following Noxipoint Therapy guidelines:
Other Name: Koo's Pain Cure Therapy
|
Active Comparator: Physical Therapy |
Procedure: Physical Therapy
The 1.5-hour physical therapy in the control arm are provided both as standard of care and sham device comparison to Nocipoint Therapy, following these guidelines:
Other Name: PT
|
- Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) Severity of the Pain at Its Worst [ Time Frame: One year ]BPI will be evaluated as the score change from the baseline. As a supplemental measure, the baseline of individual patients will also be normalized to 100%, with the change being a percentile of the baseline.
- BPI Severity of the pain in the other three occasions [ Time Frame: One year ]Besides the Severity of the Pain at Its Worst, there are three other pain measures in BPI. This measure will be used as a supporting measure fo the Primary Measure.
- BPI Interference of Function [ Time Frame: One year ]This measure is used to indicate the impact of the subject's quality of life. However, the standard questions include the therapy's functional impact on walking, which is not likely to be influenced by neck/shoulder pains in any case and thus may not be relevant. Thus, a supplemental measure excluding the impact on walking will be provided as a supplemental observation.
- Range of motion [ Time Frame: One year ]This measure will be taken whenever possible.
- Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) [ Time Frame: One year ]SPADI will be taken from shoulder pain patients whenever possible. This is optional.
- Neck Disability Index (NDI) [ Time Frame: One year ]NDI will be taken from neck pain patients whenever possible. This is optional.

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Ages Eligible for Study: | 18 Years to 64 Years (Adult) |
Sexes Eligible for Study: | All |
Accepts Healthy Volunteers: | No |
Inclusion Criteria:
- 18-64 years old male or female
- Having chronic pain (ICD-9: 338.21, 338.29) in the neck/upper back (ICD-9: 723.1), or the shoulder (ICD-9: 719.41)
- Pain duration over 6 months, with at least one month of history of other therapy treatments (Physical therapy, steroid injection, acupuncture, analgesic medicine, and/or massage therapy)
Exclusion Criteria:
- Patients with BPI Severity at its Worst below 5
- Traumatic injury from external impact force
- Pain caused by traumatic bone fractures
- History of traumatic cervical injury
- History of osteoporosis
- Pain related to systemic inflammatory conditions including polymyalgia rheumatic, systemic lupus erythematosis
- Signs of psychosomatic illness
- Severe rheumatoid arthritis undergoing active treatment including DMARD biologics
- Steroid injection on pain site within 4 weeks
- Language and/or cognitive inability to complete the assessment questionnaires
- Previous TENS for pain relief
- For safety reasons, patients wearing cardiac pace makers, implanted defibrillator, or pregnant women

To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT01578148
United States, California | |
Pain Cure Center | |
Palo Alto, California, United States, 94306 |
Study Director: | Charles C Koo, PhD | Pain Cure Center | |
Principal Investigator: | Charles C Koo, PhD | Pain Cure Center | |
Principal Investigator: | David Lewis, MD | Stanford University |
Responsible Party: | Pain Cure Center, California |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT01578148 History of Changes |
Other Study ID Numbers: |
NT-01-2012 |
First Posted: | April 16, 2012 Key Record Dates |
Last Update Posted: | April 24, 2013 |
Last Verified: | April 2013 |
Keywords provided by Pain Cure Center, California:
Cervical pain Cervicalgia, Cervicodynia Neck ache |
Neckache Shoulder pain Shoulder impingement syndrome |
Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Chronic Pain Neck Pain Shoulder Pain Pain Neurologic Manifestations |
Nervous System Diseases Signs and Symptoms Arthralgia Joint Diseases Musculoskeletal Diseases |