Clinical Research Directory

Timing Impact of Early vs. Late Cranioplasty on Hemicraniectomy Outcomes

This prospective, randomized study aims to comprehensively evaluate the impact of cranioplasty timing on postoperative complications and long-term functional outcomes following decompressive hemicraniectomy (DHC). The primary endpoint focuses on comparing the rates of various postoperative complications, including infection, seizures, return to the operating room, and the need for ventriculoperitoneal shunting, between patients undergoing standard of care cranioplasty (\>3 months after DHC) and those receiving early cranioplasty (within 8 weeks).

Exercise in Postconcussion Symptoms and Posttraumatic Headache

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare two models of delivery of guided exercise in patients with exercise intolerance after mild head injury. The main question it aims to answer is: • Is a program that includes elements of in-house exercise and follow-up sessions, and repeated treadmill testing, superior to a program with telephone-based follow-up only? Participants will undergo a treadmill test to determine eligibility for the study, and to determine at what intensity level their symptoms worsen (symptom threshold). Thereafter they will exercise 15-20 minutes, 3-5 times per week at 80-90% of the heart rate that was found to be the symptom threshold. One group will receive face-to-face folllow-up and repeated testing, one group will receive telephone-based follow-up only . Researchers will compare these two groups to see if closer follow-up is superior when it comes to recovery from exercise intolerance after 12 weeks of exercise.

Effectiveness of 3D Bone Matrix in Cranioplasty

The objective of this clinical trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of a 3D bone scaffold in relation to a scaffold formed by PCL + β-TCP (polycaprolactone and beta-tricalcium phosphate), compared to the use of PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) acrylic cement for bone regeneration in patients undergoing cranioplasty in the city of Valdivia, Chile, between the years 2024-2025. The main beneficiaries will be patients, users of the public or private health system, who require bone regeneration. The intermediate beneficiaries are the health team: doctors specialized in surgery and orthopedics, dedicated in their professional work to bone reconstruction and regeneration.

Effectiveness of a Quick Release Dynamic Muscle-strengthening Program on Dynamic Stabilization of the Cervical Spine

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if Quick Release dynamic strengthening of the cervical spine extensor muscles' reflex could improve dynamic stabilisation capacities of the cervical spine by reducing muscle activation delay in amateurs rugby players. The main questions it aims to answer are described as follows: The primary outcome measure is the comparison between the intervention and control groups of the variation in activation delay of the cervical spine extensor muscles in milliseconds (ms) between the beginning and the end of the strengthening program. The activation delay in milliseconds corresponds to the time between the onset of impact application on the head and the onset of reactive muscle force production measured by the Cervistab© ergometer. The secondary outcomes are also a comparison between the two groups of the variations from the beginning to the end of the strengthening program for the followings parameters, measured during with the Cervistab© machine: * Reflex Force Production Rate (N/ms): slope of the force/time graph. * Maximum Reactive Force (N): maximum force value produced within 300 ms following impact. * In both intervention groups: measurement of the variation in head displacement (in mm) during quick release strengthening protocol. * In each subgroup, 10 participants will be equipped with Instrumented Mouthguards. Researchers will compare the variation in workload measured by these mouthguards during Cervistab evaluations conducted before and after the training protocol. Researchers will compare the intervention group to a distractor (control) arm to see if our training protocol has an impact on the activation delay.