Trial reportSpinal cord2013
A pilot feasibility study of massage to reduce pain in people with spinal cord injury during acute rehabilitation.
Trial report in Spinal cord, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Treatments of fatigue after spinal cord injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Spinal cord · 2025Pooled it
- Management of pain in individuals with spinal cord injury: Guideline of the German-Speaking Medical Society for Spinal Cord Injury.German medical science : GMS e-journal · 2019Guideline
- Non-pharmacological interventions in patients with spinal cord compression: a systematic review.Journal of neuro-oncology · 2018Pooled it
- Non-pharmacological interventions for chronic pain in people with spinal cord injury.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2014Pooled it
- Participation Education Intervention for People With SCI From LMIC: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial.Occupational therapy international · 2026Trial
- A qualitative study-Patient experience of tactile massage after stroke.Nursing open · 2020Trial
- Managing pain and fatigue in people with spinal cord injury: a randomized controlled trial feasibility study examining the efficacy of massage therapy.Spinal cord · 2017Trial
- Factors associated with frozen shoulder in adults: a retrospective study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Article
- Healthcare Experience of People with Acute Spinal Cord Injury: A Phenomenological Study.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2023Article
- Massage Therapy as a Complementary Treatment for Stiffness and Numbness Post Cervical Spinal Cord Injury: a Case Study.International journal of therapeutic massage & bodywork · 2022Article
- Mechanotherapy Reprograms Aged Muscle Stromal Cells to Remodel the Extracellular Matrix during Recovery from Disuse.Function (Oxford, England) · 2022Article
- The Impact of Massage Therapy on Function in Pain Populations-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials: Part I, Patients Experiencing Pain in the General Population.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2016Article
- Association Between Serum 25(OH)D Level and Nonspecific Musculoskeletal Pain in Acute Rehabilitation Unit Patients.JPEN. Journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo determine the feasibility of conducting a randomized controlled trial of massage therapy for patients with a new spinal cord injury (SCI) during acute inpatient rehabilitation.
designA pilot single-center, randomized, single-blind, cross-over clinical trial.
settingFree-standing, not-for-profit, comprehensive rehabilitation center specializing in SCI rehabilitation.
participantsForty adults ages 18 years and older undergoing acute rehabilitation following an SCI reporting any type of pain.
interventionRehabilitation nurses trained to give broad compression massage (BCM) and a control light contact touch (LCT) treatments. Participants were randomized to receive either BCM or LCT first, in six 20-min treatment sessions over 2 weeks, with a 1-week washout between the 2-week treatment periods.
main outcome measuresPrimary outcomes were changes in pain intensity and in fatigue, measured daily. Secondary outcomes included depressive symptoms measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and an assessment of pain medication usage.
resultsPain intensity was higher at baseline and reduced more in the LCT-first group compared with the BCM-first group in period 1 (P=0.014), although this pattern was not found in period 2 (P=0.58). LCT and BCM groups did not significantly differ on any secondary measures except PHQ-9.
conclusionsThis study demonstrates the feasibility of using rehabilitation nurses to provide tactile therapy to patients with an SCI and suggests a model for controlled clinical trials examining the efficacy of massage therapies. Although efficacy was difficult to assess, BCM was safe and well tolerated.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.