Skip to content

Pain Assessment in Children With Cerebral Palsy Through Parasympathetic Tone Analysis.

Assessment of Pain Through Parasympathetic Tone Analysis : Applicability in Children With Cerebral Palsy.

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Observational
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02364856
Enrollment
17
Registered
2015-02-18
Start date
2015-04-24
Completion date
2018-04-12
Last updated
2026-04-17

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Cerebral Palsy, Pain, Children

Keywords

Autonomic Nervous System, Cerebral Palsy, Pain, Children

Brief summary

This study evaluates Analgesia Nociception Index (Heart Rate Variability based index) and its variations after painful stimulations in children with cerebral palsy : acute procedural pain (botulinum toxin injections), and recurrent pain (physiotherapy).

Detailed description

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is the most common cause of motor handicap in childhood. CP is caused by damage to the developing brain, resulting in limits in movement, posture, or communication ability. CP affects about one newborn on 450. Pain management is one of the major expectations of CP patients (La Foundation Motrice, 2009) but in this population, pain is not recognized and inadequately treated. Autonomic nervous system (ANS) is the automatic part of our nervous system regulating vital functions like cardiac beats or respiration. It is divided in sympathetic and parasympathetic. Analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) allows isolation of variations due to parasympathetic and their study. Works from the CIC-IT 807 lead to creation of an index called ANI (Analgesia Nociception Index), which is very sensitive to pain. It is validated on adults (Jeanne, 2012). It could be helpful to assess pain in CP, particularly in patients with communication disabilities. It is important to study this new tool in CP children before developing clinical applications. Main objective of this study is to demonstrate that ANI is relevant in CP children and that it is sensitive to pain like in adults. Population will be 40 CP children (6-18y) receiving rehabilitation therapy in specialized centres. Duration of the study is 2 years. Parent's consent should be obtained. Investigators will record heart rate of children in 3 conditions in their rehabilitation centres: usual position, acute procedural pain (botulinum toxin injections), and recurrent pain (physiotherapy). Parameters will be calculated in CIC-IT 807 lab (heart rate, ANI). Values of ANI and heart rate before and after painful stimulations will be compared. Correlation between ANI and results of usual pain assessment tools (rFLACC scale, visual analog scale) or characteristics of the population will be analyzed. Lille University Hospital and CIC-IT 807 lab will collaborate with 2 pediatric rehabilitation centers: Centre Marc Sautelet and Zuydcoote Hospital. Expected result is that ANI is relevant to CP children. Clinical applications are multiple: pain assessment, adaptation of medical equipment.

Interventions

The Analgesia Nociception Index (ANI, MDoloris Medical Systems, Lille, France), based on Heart Rate Variability analysis, measures continuously and non-invasively the influence of Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia on the heart rate. This 0-100 index indicates the proportion of paraS over sympathetic activity. In adults during surgery under general anesthesia, ANI decreases after painful stimulation and has been related to the balance between analgesia and nociception. ANI is calculated from heart rate recording.

Sponsors

University Hospital, Lille
Lead SponsorOTHER
Clinical Investigation Centre for Innovative Technology Network
CollaboratorNETWORK
Fondation Motrice
CollaboratorOTHER

Study design

Observational model
OTHER
Time perspective
PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
6 Years to 18 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Cerebral Palsy * Rehabilitation care with physiotherapy and/or toxinum botulinum injections * Absence of identified autonomic nervous system disease * Parental and children (if applicable) consent obtained * French National Health System cover

Exclusion criteria

* baseline Respiratory Frequency \> 30/min * beta-blockers or atropinic treatment * Pacemaker, cardiac rhythm disease * Diabetes mellitus

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Analgesia Nociception Index ANI before and after painful stimulation300 seconds before and 300 seconds after painful stimulationANI is calculated from heart rate recordings 300 seconds before and after painful stimulations and compared

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
ANI at baseline300 seconds at restANI calculated from Heart rate recordings during 300 seconds in patient's usual position
time for recovering10 minutes after painful stimulationtime for recovering baseline ANI after painful stimulation
pain score measured by Visual Analog Scaleimmediately after painful stimulationwhen VAS will be applicable, children will be asked to score their pain with VAS scale; results of pain ratings with VAS will be compared to ANI results
pain score measured by rFLACC scaleimmediately after painful stimulationrFLACC scale will be scored immediately after painful stimulation; results of pain ratings with rFLACC will be compared to ANI results
dysautonomic symptomsinclusionresults of ANI measures will be compared between two groups according to presence or absence of dysautonomic symptoms
Gross Motor Function Classification Systeminclusionresults of ANI measures will be compared to the severity of motor impairment through the Gross Motor Function Classification System

Countries

France

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORJustine AVEZ-COUTURIER, MD

University Hospital, Lille

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Apr 18, 2026