Evaluating the Efficacy of Intranasal Oxytocin on Chronic Pain
Status:
Not yet recruiting
Trial end date:
2024-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
One in five Canadians live with chronic pain, defined as pain that lasts longer than
3-months. Living with chronic pain has a detrimental impact on physical health, emotional
health, and quality of life. Current treatments rarely result in pain relief and often do not
meaningfully improve physical or emotional function. Further, medication used to treat pain
often causes unwanted symptoms. There is a need to develop new treatments to help manage
chronic pain. The use of a nasal spray containing manufactured oxytocin may improve pain
management. Oxytocin is produced in the human body and has been shown to impact the pain
pathway in animals. Our project tests whether the use of a nasal spray containing oxytocin
will improve pain and function in men and women who live with chronic pain. Men and women
with chronic nerve, muscle, or pelvic pain will be recruited in Vancouver, Calgary, and St.
John's. Each person will be assigned to complete three interventions in a random order. Each
intervention involves using a nasal spray twice per day over a 2-week period. The nasal spray
will contain a small dose of oxytocin during one intervention and a medium dose during the
second intervention. The nasal spray during the final intervention will have no oxytocin.
This final intervention is a control intervention that will allow us to measure the effect of
simply taking a nasal spray (i.e., the impact of expectation). Participants and researchers
will not know which interventions involve the use of oxytocin. Participants will rate their
pain and function each day throughout each task. The investigators will calculate each
person's score on pain and function. The investigators will test whether participants report
less pain and better function when they use oxytocin compared to the control. The results of
this project may improve pain, function, and quality of life among those who live with
chronic pain.
Phase:
Phase 2/Phase 3
Details
Lead Sponsor:
Memorial University of Newfoundland
Collaborators:
University of British Columbia University of Calgary