Clinical Trials
The Division of Pain Medicine is an important center for conducting clinical trials of new treatments. Numerous patients are enrolled in clinical trials to test the pain-reduction effectiveness of new drugs, procedures and technologies that are not yet available to the public at large. Our clinicians have expertise in interventional clinical trials as well as in development and testing of new drugs. Our center has been the site for multiple National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded studies.
The broad and varied experience of our team has encompassed numerous sophisticated, insightful studies, including (but not limited to):
- Injection of stem cells within spinal discs to treat pain resulting from disc damage or degeneration
- Use of an enzyme called lytic as a non-surgical treatment for swelling and pain associated with disc extrusion, a type of disc rupture in which the jelly-like core of the disk leaks into the spinal canal
- Neuromodulation
- Use of specialized PET scans to increase understanding of myofascial pain, which is pain at certain pressure points in muscles
- Novel treatments for osteoarthritic knee pain
Some of our faculty members have participated in clinical trials investigating how virtual reality might be used to reduce apprehension and anxiety for people preparing to undergo a medical procedure. And we are in the early stages of developing the means to use two novel molecules to treat pain. All of the clinical trials that we initiate are intended to yield high-quality data to lead to improvements in pain management.
More Resources
Clinical Trial Enrollment
To participate in a clinical trial investigating chronic pain, speak with your UC Davis pain medicine physician or visit the UC Davis Health clinical trials portal.
Collaboration in Pain Research
Learn more about the medical and electronic innovations that have helped untold numbers of patients manage chronic pain.