CTRI/2021/03/031875.

Study name	Efficacy of duloxetine in patients with central post‐stroke pain: a randomised double blind placebo controlled study
Methods	Double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, parallel, 2‐arm, RCT 4 weeks
Participants	Positive history of haemorrhagic or ischaemic stroke with lesion in the unilateral brain region proved by computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging of the brain Presence of spontaneous or stimulated pain in the affected side, which could be smaller or the same in size as the sensory impairment area, fulfilling the mandatory criteria proposed by Klit 2009 Patients with moderate to severe pain (NRS score of ≥ 4) are included Target: 82
Interventions	Duloxetine: 30 mg in the night every day and followed up at 2 weeks if no response, i.e. decrease in NRS score < 2 then the dose is doubled and again followed up after 2 weeks Placebo: the similar appearing placebo tablets are given at night every day and followed up at 2 weeks, if no response, i.e. decrease in NRS score < 2 the dose is doubled and again followed up after 2 weeks
Outcomes	Pain intensity Disability PGIC
Starting date	10 March 2021
Contact information	Dr Rameshwar Nath Chaurasiya Department of Neurology, Institue of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, 221005 Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India goforrameshwar@gmail.com
Notes