Botulinum Toxin in Raynaud's Phenomenon

Study Purpose

Raynaud's Phenomenon (RP) is the most common vasospastic disorder encountered by hand surgeons with an estimated prevalence of 5% in the general population. It's manifestations are broad, and can range from minor to severe. Sometimes it can be refractory to treatments. The goal of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of Botulinum toxin (BT) in the treatment of treatment refractory RP by objective and subjective measures.

Recruitment Criteria

Accepts Healthy Volunteers Healthy volunteers are participants who do not have a disease or condition, or related conditions or symptoms	No
Study Type An interventional clinical study is where participants are assigned to receive one or more interventions (or no intervention) so that researchers can evaluate the effects of the interventions on biomedical or health-related outcomes. An observational clinical study is where participants identified as belonging to study groups are assessed for biomedical or health outcomes. Searching Both is inclusive of interventional and observational studies.	Interventional
Eligible Ages	18 Years and Over
Gender	All

More Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

- Age 18 or older.

- Patients with moderate to severe RP that is not controlled after 3 months of standard medical therapy as prescribed by a Rheumatologist, or severe RP with evidence of tissue loss.

Exclusion Criteria:

- Patients under the age of 18.

- Patients who have previously undergone treatment with BT for RP within the past year.

- Patients with active infection at the treatment site (active infection defined as cellulitis, purulence, fever, chills, or presence of elevated inflammatory markers, ie. WBC, ESR, CRP) - Patients who have undergone prior digital sympathectomy surgery for RP.

- Patients who have recently altered their medical regimen for RP within the past 4 weeks.

- Patients with allergy or contraindication to BT injection

Trial Details

Trial ID: This trial id was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, providing information on publicly and privately supported clinical studies of human participants with locations in all 50 States and in 196 countries.	NCT05125029
Phase Phase 1: Studies that emphasize safety and how the drug is metabolized and excreted in humans. Phase 2: Studies that gather preliminary data on effectiveness (whether the drug works in people who have a certain disease or condition) and additional safety data. Phase 3: Studies that gather more information about safety and effectiveness by studying different populations and different dosages and by using the drug in combination with other drugs. Phase 4: Studies occurring after FDA has approved a drug for marketing, efficacy, or optimal use.	Phase 4
Lead Sponsor The sponsor is the organization or person who oversees the clinical study and is responsible for analyzing the study data.	Emory University
Principal Investigator The person who is responsible for the scientific and technical direction of the entire clinical study.	Paul A Ghareeb, MD
Principal Investigator Affiliation	Emory University
Agency Class Category of organization(s) involved as sponsor (and collaborator) supporting the trial.	Other
Overall Status	Recruiting
Countries	United States
Conditions The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied.	Raynaud Phenomenon

Additional Details

Raynaud's Phenomenon (RP) is the most common vasospastic (i.e. conditions where small blood vessels near the surface of the skin have spasms that limit blood flow) disorder encountered by hand surgeons with an estimated prevalence of 5% in the general population. The clinical manifestations are broad, and can range from minor pain, cold sensitivity and color changes to impaired hand function, intolerable pain and tissue loss/digital ulceration. Treatment algorithms include activity modification and medical therapies. However, refractory RP can warrant surgical intervention, such as peri-arterial sympathectomy, of which has significant associated morbidity. While the exact mechanism is still being elucidated, several retrospective reviews have demonstrated efficacy of BT in the treatment of RP. Specifically, increases in post treatment perfusion have been demonstrated and clinical evidence of improvement in pain scores and tissue loss are reported. However, the literature varies in regard to injection technique (location and dose) and duration of action. The goal of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of BT in the treatment of treatment refractory RP by objective and subjective measures. This study will perform a single-site double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial evaluating two different doses of BT (10 units and 20 units) injected into each patient's fingers of both hands versus injection of a normal saline control, given that there is currently no widely accepted standard of care for the treatment of BT. Following injection, patients will be evaluated in regular intervals to assess for impact on finger temperature, oxygenation, patient reported outcome measures (PROMs), and effect on tissue loss. The study will take place under Emory University School of Medicine, specifically the Upper Extremity Division. Patients may also be originally seen under the Rheumatology Division and subsequently referred to the Upper Extremity Division for study participation. In total, the study aims to recruit 36 patients. There will be no outside recruitment or advertisement materials. With this research study, the study team seeks to establish a standardized injection technique and dosage for this disease and to determine duration of symptom alleviation.

Arms & Interventions

Arms

No Intervention: Placebo

Prior to injection, patients will wait in a temperature controlled room for 30 minutes in order to allow time for normalization of baseline digital temperature. Once a patient is randomly selected via our randomization process, BT will be reconstituted by clinic nursing staff with sterile saline per manufacturer recommendations such that the investigating hand surgeon who will be performing the injection will be sufficiently blinded. After proper cleansing of the skin with alcohol swabs, BT will be sterilely administered percutaneously via a small-gauge needle and syringe into the base of each digit by the investigating hand surgeons within the Upper Extremity Division. The volar metacarpal head will be used as a standardized anatomic landmark for injection both to lessen the probability and magnitude of risk to deep structures of the hand as well as maximize probability of proper anatomic placement of the drug.

Active Comparator: 10 units of BT per digit

Active Comparator: 20 units of BT per digit

Interventions

Drug: - Botulinum toxin

Botulinum toxin is a neurotoxic protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum that prevents the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from the neuromuscular junction, thereby preventing muscular contraction. Eligible subjects will be randomized 1:1:1 into three different groups: 1) placebo 2) 10 Units of BT injected per digit and 3) 20 units of BT injected per digit.

Contact a Trial Team

If you are interested in learning more about this trial, find the trial site nearest to your location and contact the site coordinator via email or phone. We also strongly recommend that you consult with your healthcare provider about the trials that may interest you and refer to our terms of service below.

Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia

Status

Recruiting

Address

Emory University Hospital

Atlanta, Georgia, 30322

Site Contact

Alex Dawes

[email protected]

404-686-8143

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