Ohio State first in state to enroll patient in nerve regrowth trial

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Peripheral nerve injuries cause pain, numbness or weakness in the hands, feet or limbs of millions of people. Healing can take weeks or years, depending on the severity of the injury. The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is the first in Ohio to enroll a patient in a clinical trial to see if brief electrical stimulation of a nerve can kickstart the healing process.

 

In the multicenter double-blinded trial (FASTR-TEN), patients are randomized to receive 10 minutes of targeted electrical stimulation to their injured digital nerves during surgical repair. The goal is to see if that stimulation speeds up nerve regrowth, which starts at the site of injury. Nerve regeneration is slow – about 1 millimeter per day – and the farther the nerve needs to travel to its endpoint, the longer recovery is for patients. 

 

“It’s an exciting time in nerve surgery because this new handheld system has the potential to improve the function, recovery and quality of life in patients with devastating nerve injuries,” said Amy Moore, MD, trial principal investigator at Ohio State, chair of the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the Robert L. Ruberg, MD Alumni Endowed Chair. Plastic surgeon Andrew O’Brien, MD, randomized the first patient Oct. 1.

 

Ohio State’s medical center was the first in the U.S. to enroll a patient in an earlier Checkpoint Surgical trial (PHONES) looking at the effectiveness of electrical stimulation on the ulnar nerve at the elbow for the condition Cubital Tunnel Syndrome. The device received Breakthrough Device designation from the FDA in 2019. Moore is the national principal investigator on that trial as well as an early feasibility trial (PHINEST). The trials are partly funded by a grant Moore received from the Department of Defense. 

 

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