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Abdominal massage for neurogenic bowel dysfunction in people with multiple sclerosis (AMBER - Abdominal Massage for Bowel Dysfunction Effectiveness Research): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

McClurg, D; Goodman, K; Hagen, S; Harris, F; Treweek, S; Emmanuel, A; Norton, C; ... Manoukian, S; + view all (2017) Abdominal massage for neurogenic bowel dysfunction in people with multiple sclerosis (AMBER - Abdominal Massage for Bowel Dysfunction Effectiveness Research): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. TRIALS , 18 , Article 150. 10.1186/s13063-017-1890-y. Green open access

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Abstract

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a life-long condition primarily affecting younger adults. Neurogenic bowel dysfunction (NBD) occurs in 50–80% of these patients and is the term used to describe constipation and faecal incontinence, which often co-exist. Data from a pilot study suggested feasibility of using abdominal massage for the relief of constipation, but the effectiveness remains uncertain. Methods/design: This is a multi-centred patient randomised superiority trial comparing an experimental strategy of once daily abdominal massage for 6 weeks against a control strategy of no massage in people with MS who have stated that their constipation is bothersome. The primary outcome is the Neurogenic Bowel Dysfunction Score at 24 weeks. Both groups will receive optimised advice plus the MS Society booklet on bowel management in MS, and will continue to receive usual care. Participants and their clinicians will not be blinded to the allocated intervention. Outcome measures are primarily self-reported and submitted anonymously. Central trial staff who will manage and analyse the trial data will be unaware of participant allocations. Analysis will follow intention-to-treat principles. Discussion: This pragmatic randomised controlled trial will demonstrate if abdominal massage is an effective, cost-effective and viable addition to the treatment of NBD in people with MS.

Type: Article
Title: Abdominal massage for neurogenic bowel dysfunction in people with multiple sclerosis (AMBER - Abdominal Massage for Bowel Dysfunction Effectiveness Research): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1186/s13063-017-1890-y
Publisher version: http://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-017-1890-y
Additional information: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Keywords: Multiple sclerosis, Constipation, Abdominal massage, Randomised controlled trial
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Medicine
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Medicine > Inst for Liver and Digestive Hlth
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1550261
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