Status:

NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Neuropathic Pain Intervention With tDCS in Brazilian Military Personnel (NeuBRAIN Trial)

Lead Sponsor:

Hospital da Polícia Militar de Goiás

Collaborating Sponsors:

Hospital das Clínicas de São Paulo - SP

Conditions:

Neuropathic Pain

Sleep Quality

Eligibility:

All Genders

18+ years

Phase:

NA

Brief Summary

This project protocol investigates the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in treating neuropathic pain and improving sleep quality among Brazilian military personnel. Given the...

Detailed Description

The intervention will be carried out into two-weeks daily consecutive sessions of 20 minutes each, with 1 session per day, and a weekend interval. Direct current stimulation will be administered throu...

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion

  • Inclusion criteria:
  • Military personnel (active and veterans) with chronic pain due to central or peripheral neuropathy and poor sleep quality;
  • Age over 18 years old;
  • Defined chronic NeP according to current guidelines (ICD-10 codes OR DN-4);
  • Pain with an average intensity score above 40/100 mm on a visual analogue scale (VAS);
  • Medication stability (chronic pain, depression, anxiety, sleep) for at least six weeks;
  • Patients with bad sleep quality identified by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) of 5 or more who do not improve under conventional treatment.
  • Exclusion criteria:
  • General contraindications for tDCS: past head trauma, current epilepsy, intracranial ferromagnetic components, pacemaker, implanted microprocessors (i.e., cochlear implants);
  • Pregnancy;
  • Known major psychiatric disorders (as assessed by the DSM-5, e.g., psychosis), history of substance abuse, or work litigation issues;
  • History of chronic refractory migraines;
  • Non-treated moderate to severe sleep apnea defined as apnea/hypopnea index greater than 15 events per hour in baseline polysomnography;
  • Skin conditions such as psoriasis or eczema that involve the scalp (Thair et al, 2017);
  • Cancer-related pain;
  • BMI \>35, due to increased reports of pain associated with increased BMI (Basem, et al., 2021; Stokes et al., 2020);
  • Patients who do not sign informed consent or do not want to participate in the study.

Exclusion

    Key Trial Info

    Start Date :

    March 1 2026

    Trial Type :

    INTERVENTIONAL

    Allocation :

    ESTIMATED

    End Date :

    March 1 2030

    Estimated Enrollment :

    120 Patients enrolled

    Trial Details

    Trial ID

    NCT06994390

    Start Date

    March 1 2026

    End Date

    March 1 2030

    Last Update

    May 29 2025

    Active Locations (1)

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    1

    Hospital da Polícia Militar de Goiás

    Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil, 74423-120