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Sensory Re-Training Following Facial Surgery for Correction of Facial Skeletal Disharmony
This study is currently recruiting patients.
Sponsored by: | National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) |
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Information provided by: | National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) |
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to determine whether facial exercises in conjunction with opening exercises routinely provided after facial surgery to correct a facial skeletal disharmony will shorten the time until a patient receives no unpleasant or negative facial sensation.
Condition | Treatment or Intervention | Phase |
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Mandibular Advancement |
Procedure: Sensory Re-training |
Phase IV |
MedlinePlus consumer health information
Study Type: Interventional
Study Design: Treatment, Randomized, Single Blind, Active Control, Parallel Assignment, Efficacy Study
Official Title: Sensory Re-Training Following Orthognathic Surgery
Expected Total Enrollment: 220
Study start: December 2001;
Study completion: May 2006
Abnormal facial sensation has a negative impact on patients' oral behaviors and may adversely affect a patient's quality of life if the altered sensation persists. Many patients with abnormal sensations retain some sensory function and do not develop chronic pain, and for those individuals there are currently no evidence-based noninvasive therapies. The goal of this project is to evaluate sensory re-training, a rehabilitative therapy that offers significant potential for patients who experience impaired sensory function regardless of the cause. This behavioral therapy approach has been used with substantial clinical success with hand injury patients since the 1970s. Re-training appears to enhance central reorganization of impulses from an injured sensory nerve to the cerebral cortex so that the altered sensory signals can be interpreted and translated into functionally meaningful motor functions. Sensory re-training will be compared to a placebo jaw-opening exercise in a single blind, randomized two-arm parallel group stratified block clinical trial, using orthognathic surgery patients as subjects. Orthognathic surgery patients offer an uncompromised model for the evaluation of new rehabilitative therapies. These healthy individuals, treated to correct dentofacial deformity, present for surgery with no neurosensory impairment, but yet routinely experience substantial alterations in facial sensation following the surgical procedure. The effects of sensory re-training will be evaluated using three types of outcomes: patient-centered measures to assess the magnitude of the negative effect of altered sensation after surgery and the recovery time needed to reach little or no negative effect; neurosensory behavior measures to assess the patient's ability to learn alternate cues for touch perception and discrimination; and a conventional neurosensory contact threshold measure to assess the actual deficit. Our primary focus will be on the patient's perception of the negative impact of altered sensation on daily life.
Eligibility
Ages Eligible for Study: 13 Years - 50 Years, Genders Eligible for Study: Both
Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria:
Location and Contact Information
More Information
U.S. National Library of Medicine, Contact NLM Customer Service | ||||||||||||||
National Institutes of Health, Department of Health & Human Services | ||||||||||||||
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