Clinical trials

The goal of this one-arm clinical trial is to implement and study the oncological outcomes of nonoperative management of rectal cancer having complete clinical response to neoadjuvant therapy. The main questions to answer are * if the oncological results of nonoperative management after Nordic practice in chemoradiotherapy indications differ from experiences elsewhere * what is the organ preservation rate * what is the local regrowth rate

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common compression neuropathy of upper extremities. Its usual symptoms are pain, numbness and tingling of fingers, which tend to be worse at night. Splinting the wrist with an external orthosis is usually a first-line treatment provided to most people with mild to moderate disease. The FINCROSS trial (randomized cross-over trial) aims to assess the effect of night-time and full-time splinting in comparison with no-treatment. It also aims to identify possible subgroups of people who would benefit from splinting, as well as assess if positive response to splinting is associated with subsequent lower need of surgery. The trial will recruit 110 people with carpal tunnel syndrome in Finland. Each participant will undergo all three treatment periods in a randomised order: 1) splinting at night-time for six weeks, 2) splinting both day and night for six weeks; and 3) be assessed under a six weeks long control period of no-treatment. Each treatment period will be separated with a three-week washout period. Therefore, the whole treatment sequence for each participant lasts 24 weeks after randomization. The participant will be followed-up to 1 year after the randomisation. Additionally, the participants will get instructions for self-administered stretching exercises to perform throughout the study. All participants will be asked to avoid any intervention administered or supervised by medical personnel (such as structured supervised exercises, manual therapy, steroid injections, surgery, etc.).

The goal of this observational study is to evaluate a commercially available smart sock for heart rate monitoring in hospitalized newborn infants without known heart disease. The study aims to determine whether the smart sock provides heart rate information comparable to that obtained from the standard patient monitor used in routine neonatal care. The main questions this study aims to answer are: * Does the smart sock provide heart rate measurements comparable to those obtained from the standard patient monitor? * Does the smart sock provide comparable information on clinically relevant rhythm abnormalities? * How do parents and healthcare professionals perceive the usability and safety of the smart sock? Participants will wear the smart sock while undergoing routine monitoring on the neonatal ward. Heart rate and rhythm data from the smart sock will be compared with data from the standard patient monitor. Parents and healthcare professionals will provide feedback on the usability and perceived safety of the device.

The goal of this observational study is to learn whether a rapid stool-based imaging test can help monitor inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in children. The study will use a technology called differential mobility spectrometry (DMS) to analyze the molecular profile of stool samples. Researchers hope this method will provide a quick, non-invasive way to measure bowel inflammation and predict disease worsening. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Do children with IBD have different stool molecular profiles than children without IBD? * Can stool molecular profiles reflect how much inflammation is present in the bowel? * Can stool molecular profiles help predict disease relapse or the need for stronger treatment? * Can changes in stool molecular profiles show whether treatment is working? Current methods used to monitor IBD have limitations. Blood tests, symptom scores, stool calprotectin tests, ultrasound, and endoscopy can help measure inflammation, but some tests are invasive, may not give immediate results, or may not accurately predict future disease activity. Researchers want to determine whether stool molecular profiling can provide additional information to support clinical care. The study will include children younger than 18 years who are undergoing colonoscopy at Tampere University Hospital. Participants with IBD will be followed regularly for up to 5 years or until they transfer to adult care. Researchers will track disease activity, relapses, and treatment changes over time. Children without IBD will participate only at the baseline visit. Participants with IBD will provide stool samples for stool molecular profiling and faecal calprotectin testing, and undergo routine assessments of disease activity, including symptom scores, blood tests, intestinal ultrasound, and elastography. Information from clinically indicated colonoscopies and tissue samples will be reviewed and compared to stool profiles. Attend follow-up visits will be performed approximately every 3 months for monitoring treatment response, relapses, and the need for treatment escalation. Researchers will compare stool molecular profiles between children with and without IBD. They will also compare patterns seen during remission and active disease and evaluate whether certain profiles are linked to treatment-resistant disease. This study is expected to involve minimal risk because it mainly uses stool samples and clinical information collected during routine care. If successful, the findings could help develop a rapid and non-invasive tool that provides real-time information about bowel inflammation, reduces the need for invasive testing, and helps identify children at risk of relapse before symptoms worsen. This could support earlier and more personalized treatment decisions for children with IBD.

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn how oral vancomycin therapy may contribute in treating paediatric inflammatory bowel disease, particularly atypical ulcerative colitis and PSC-associated colitis. It will also give more information on how this treatment affects gut microbiota and metabolism. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Does oral vancomycin improve disease activity and lead to remission (based on symptoms, biomarkers, and endoscopy findings)? 2. How does oral vancomycin change gut metabolism? 3. Does different types of colitis respond differently to oral vancomycin? Researchers will compare children receiving oral vancomycin plus standard therapy to those receiving standard therapy alone. The gut metabolisim before and after oral vancmycin will also be compared, as well as to healthy controls and children with typical ulcerative colitis. Participants will: 1. Take oral vancomycin (if assigned) together with conventional treatment for at least 3 months and up to 12 months depending on response 2. Visit the clinic approximately every 3 months for checkups, tests, and monitoring 3. Provide blood, stool, and saliva samples to study disease activity and microbiota activity 4. Undergo clinical assessments such as symptom scoring, imaging, and possibly endoscopy 5. Complete questionnaires about quality of life 6. Be monitored for side effects and treatment response throughout the study period

The aim of this study is to expand access to Bergen Four-Day Treatment (B4DT) in Finland and to integrate it into psychiatric care pathways at Tampere University Hospital (TAYS). A Bergen team has been established within TAYS Psychiatry and has been trained in collaboration with the B4DT team from HUS and the Norwegian developers. The objective of this study is to enhance understanding of the model's adaptability to the Finnish healthcare system, evaluate healthcare professionals' attitudes toward the intervention, and assess treatment outcomes. The aim is to recruit approximately 35 patients for the study. Patients will be recruited from a minimum of three groups (15 patients) and up to a maximum of six groups (35 patients). The criteria for admission to B4DT and for participation in the study are identical. The treatment and the study may include patients receiving specialized psychiatric care at Tampere University Hospital who have been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder and who experience significant impairment due to their symptoms. In addition, personnel from TAYS Psychiatry who recommend and refer patients for B4DT will be recruited for the study. The estimated number of participating staff members is approximately 30.

Determination of the sites from which the histopathological samples in surgically removed lesions are collected is still done by eye by a pathologist. As radiological determination of regions of interest has already proven useful in in vivo use cases, the implementation of sampling of ex vivo lesions with the help of radiological imaging suggests great potential. By developing and implementing mold printing processes, these molds have the potential to vastly improve the accuracy and consistency of histopathological sampling and collection of tissue samples from different regions of tumor, leading to improved characterization, more individualized treatments, and eventually better survival.

Mammography is the most common method for breast imaging, and it provides information for model building and analysis. Radiomics applied to mammography has the potential to revolutionize clinical decision-making by providing valuable insights into risk assessment and disease detection. Despite this, the influence of imaging parameters and clinical and biological factors on radiological texture features remains poorly understood. There is a pressing need to overcome the obstacle of system-inherent effects on mammographic images to facilitate the translation of radiological texture features into routine clinical practice by enabling reliable and robust AI-based or AI-aided decision-making. Furthermore, understanding the relationship between imaging parameters, textural features, and clinical and biological information supports the clinical use of AI. The objective of this study is to evaluate AI methods for clinical practice and to study how it relates to clinical factors and biological features.

The objective of this prospective multicentre study that recruits altogether 1500 older patients from the university hospitals of Tampere, Kuopio, and Oulu is to explore the clinical significance and detection of causes of generalized vulnerability. The objectives are: O1 - Establish the prevalence of causes of generalized vulnerability among patients diagnosed with severe yet non-malignant diseases and local/locally advanced and advanced cancers, O2 - Study how causes of generalized vulnerability affect the time between the diagnosis and the adoption of a fully palliative treatment line, overall survival, and patient-reported quality of life in older adults severe diseases, and O3 - Evaluate how screening tools commonly used in patients without cancer perform in screening for causes of vulnerability in older adults with cancer

Obesity has increased significantly in recent decades and is starting earlier than before, even before school age. In 2023, 8% of Finnish boys aged 7-12 and 4% of girls were obese, while the corresponding figures for boys aged 13-16 were 9% and 4%, respectively. Overweight and obesity are classified using age- and gender-specific BMI percentile limits, which are derived from adult (18-year-old) BMI cutoffs for overweight (BMI 25-30 kg/m²) and obesity (BMI \> 30 kg/m²). Childhood obesity has a significant tendency to persist into adulthood. Obesity treatment and long-term weight management require an effective intervention that combines both permanent dietary modification and increased physical activity. Obesity has significant physical, psychological, social and economic impacts on both individuals and society. Obesity drug trials have always included lifestyle interventions, but their intensity and long-term follow-up data vary. In addition, for children and young people, intervention should be targeted at the entire family, if possible, because a child alone is not able to modify everyday activities. Stress, depression and other psychologically stressful factors experienced in the family increase the risk of eating habits that predispose to obesity and weight gain. The role of the family in the development of obesity in children and adolescents is central. Parental obesity is a significant risk factor for childhood obesity. Parents' lifestyles, family eating patterns, and eating habits are linked to childhood obesity. A healthy diet, regular meal times, and appropriate portion sizes are key factors in weight management. In addition, low physical activity is associated with overweight and obesity. Excessive sitting and other sedentary activities during waking hours may contribute to the development of obesity. Computer games are a challenge in the treatment of childhood obesity, both in terms of their inactivity and addictiveness. Physical activity promotes weight management, but without permanent changes in diet, it alone is not a sufficient means of losing weight. The most common comorbidities are hypertension, type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, dyslipidemias, and fatty liver disease. Metabolic fatty liver disease (MASLD) is currently the most common chronic liver disease in children and adolescents and is mainly caused by obesity. Obesity in adolescence and high triglyceride, insulin, and sensitive CRP levels increase the risk of metabolic syndrome in adulthood. Type 2 diabetes diagnosed in adolescence is a more serious disease than type 1 diabetes, as it is part of the metabolic syndrome, is associated with obesity and several metabolic disorders, and has a shortening effect on the patient's lifespan.

Dyspnea in patients with incurable illness is a difficult symptom. Therefore, there is a need to identify new effective treatment modalities. Previous studies suggest that high-flow nasal therapy delivered via a nasal cannula (HFNT = High-Flow Nasal Therapy) may alleviate dyspnea, and similarly that directing airflow toward the face can provide relief. HFNT has been studied very little in hospice settings and on palliative care wards. The aim of this study is to determine whether HFNT is a feasible and effective treatment for relieving dyspnea in patients receiving palliative care. Patients will be recruited from the Hatanpää Palliative Care Ward and the Pirkanmaa Hospice, Tampere, Finland. The target is to recruit approximately 30-40 patients. The inclusion criteria are: age ≥18 years, ability to understand the study and provide informed consent to participate, a palliative treatment approach, and significant dyspnea. Each patient receives HFNT and fan therapy in which airflow will be directed toward the patient's face. Both treatments will last 30 minutes. Patient symptoms will be asked after the treatments. In addition, patients will be asked to rate the overall benefit they experienced from the intervention and any side effects. The primary endpoint is the relief of dyspnea with HFNT compared with fan therapy. The study will be conducted in accordance with laws, regulations, and guidelines governing medical research, as well as good scientific practice and research ethics. The study does not involve significant risks or measurements or sampling procedures that would cause additional discomfort. All other care for the patient will be provided according to the standard practices of the treating unit, and participation in the study will not limit any necessary treatments. Identifiable information will not be disclosed for use outside the research group. Results will be reported in a manner that does not allow patients to be identified. The Ethics Committee of the Wellbeing Services County of Pirkanmaa has approved the study. If successful, the study will significantly improve the care of the patients in palliative care.

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare the Manchester procedure and vaginal hysterectomy in treating patients with symptomatic uterine prolapse. The main question it aims to answer is: • What is the difference in the success rates at the the two year follow-up Participants will: * be randomized in either the Manchester procedure or vaginal hysterectomy group and operated as such * visit the clinic at 2 and 5 years after the operation * fill in questionnaires at 1, 2, 5 and 10 years after the operation

Prolonged cough lasting more than four weeks is common in children, but the best treatment is often unclear when no underlying disease can be found. This study aims to find out whether commonly used treatments help children with prolonged cough more effectively than placebo. Children who take part will first undergo standard medical examinations, including lung function tests and a chest X-ray, to look for the cause of the cough. If no specific cause is found, the child may enter the study. Children with a dry cough will be randomly assigned to receive either an inhaled corticosteroid (fluticasone) or a placebo inhaler for two months. Children with a wet or productive cough will be randomly assigned to receive either an oral antibiotic (amoxicillin-clavulanic acid) or a placebo medicine for 14 days. Neither the families nor the researchers will know which treatment the child receives during the study. The main goal is to determine whether these treatments significantly reduce or stop the cough compared with placebo. The results will help improve treatment recommendations for children with prolonged cough and avoid unnecessary medication use. Participation is voluntary, and parents provide written informed consent for their child.

Continuous intravenous antibiotic infusion using elastomeric pumps is well established in adult care and has been shown to be effective, safe, and cost-efficient, particularly for beta-lactams and vancomycin. In pediatric outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (p-OPAT), home intravenous treatment is feasible and safe, improves quality of life, and reduces hospital stays and healthcare-associated infections. Elastomeric pumps offer practical advantages, including portability, ease of use, fixed infusion rates, and reduced drug handling, although they are limited by fixed flow rates and drug stability. This prospective study at Tampere University Hospital (Tays) will evaluate the safety and cost-effectiveness of 24-hour continuous antibiotic infusions in children between January 2026 and January 2029. Eligible pediatric patients requiring intravenous antimicrobial treatment and suitable for home care will be included. Indications include serious bacterial infections such as bacteremia, osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, neutropenic fever, cystic fibrosis-related infections, and foreign body infections. The study antibiotics are benzylpenicillin, cloxacillin, piperacillin/tazobactam, and vancomycin, administered via CE-approved infusion devices for home use. Children will receive continuous infusion either initially in hospital or directly from the emergency department if appropriate, with treatment duration and dosing comparable to standard intermittent regimens. Outcomes include safety, feasibility, cost-effectiveness, and patient-reported quality of life measured using PedsQL™. The study aims to determine whether continuous infusion can optimize pediatric antimicrobial care and healthcare resource utilization. Results will be published in peer-reviewed international journals.

This prospective cohort study aims to establish reliable histological reference values for normal small-bowel mucosa, improve histological diagnostic quality in celiac disease, and develop an advanced molecular profile for disease diagnosis and treatment response evaluation. The study will collect duodenal biopsies from three groups: healthy controls undergoing clinically indicated gastroscopy, patients referred for primary celiac disease diagnostics, and patients with small-bowel mucosal injury unresponsive to a gluten-free diet. Patients will undergo routine clinical assessment via standard pathology review of diagnostic biopsies. Biopsies will be analyzed using digital morphometry, AI-based image analysis, RNA sequencing (transcriptomics), and intestinal organoid cultures.

* Health effects of mindfulness based stress reduction course versus usual care in treatment of back pain: a randomized clinical trial * Mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) course intervention for half of the research patients * MBSR course lasts for 8 weeks. * follow-up time 2 years. * research data is collected by Recdap * Working-age (18-64 years) patients with back pain in thoracal or lumbar area (NRS at least 4) with or without radiculation over 12 weeks will be recruited. * The primary outcome measure is Numeric pain rating scale (NRS, 0-10).

A multi-center randomized controlled clinical trial which determines the efficacy of proximal median nerve release in patients with persistent proximal median nerve compression. The primary outcome is patient reported improvement of symptoms on a 7-point Likert scale at 6 months after the randomization to treatment group.

Inguinal hernia repair is a common surgical procedure, often performed as day-case surgery. Despite standardized surgical techniques, postoperative pain may delay recovery and occasionally lead to unplanned hospital admission. The PRO-RSTAP study is a prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical trial evaluating whether ultrasound-guided transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block, rectus sheath (RS) block, or their combination improves postoperative recovery after open inguinal hernia surgery. Adult patients undergoing unilateral open inguinal hernia repair are randomized into four groups receiving either combined TAP and RS blocks, TAP block only, RS block only, or placebo blocks , in addition to standard perioperative care. The primary outcome is total perioperative opioid consumption measured as intravenous morphine equivalents. Secondary outcomes include postoperative pain scores, need for rescue analgesia, postoperative nausea and vomiting, time to discharge, unplanned hospital admission, and chronic postoperative pain during long-term follow-up. The aim of this study is to determine the individual and combined effects of TAP and RS blocks on postoperative analgesia and recovery in patients undergoing open inguinal hernia repair.

The primary aim of this project is to investigate how active screening and the timing of diagnosis affect the long-term health outcomes of patients with celiac disease. Additionally, the study seeks to clarify the natural course of so-called potential celiac disease. A key focus is also placed on assessing adherence to a gluten-free diet among screen-detected and, if initiated, potential celiac disease patients, their satisfaction with the diagnosis, and the diet's impact on general health and quality of life.

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if surgery helps with wrist ganglions in adults. The main question it aims to answer is: * Does surgery result in better patient-reported outcomes and satisfaction over a 6-months follow-up period? Researchers will compare surgery to conservative treatment (self-administered exercises and use of the hand as tolerated) to see if surgery provides superior outcomes. Participants will: * Be randomly assigned to receive either surgery or conservative treatment * Complete questionnaires about wrist pain, function, quality of life, satisfaction, and recovery at 3, 6, and 12 months

DISCLOSE trial is a randomized controlled trial including 532 participants with low-energy distal radius fractures. The primary objective is to evaluate whether casting without prior closed reduction is equivalent to casting following closed reduction with respect to wrist-related pain and disability, as measured by the Patient-Rated Wrist Evaluation (PRWE) score at 12 months, in patients aged 65 years or older with a displaced distal radius fracture. * Primary endpoint will be PRWE at 12 months * Follow-up visits are scheduled at 3 and 12 months. 5-year follow-up will be considered as an exploratory endpoint

Couples and Microbial Diversity (CLARITY) - study is a prospective study that investigates the risks and dynamics of different microbes and transmission among couples to optimize the prevention and control strategies as well as improvement for infertility treatments. The study will be conducted at the Infertility Clinic of Tampere University Hospital, Tampere Finland; and will recruit 200 couples undergoing infertility investigations and treatments. Oral and genital tract samples will be collected at baseline and every six months during a two-year follow-up period. Background information will be obtained through a secure online questionnaire. Couples who achieve pregnancy will be followed according to the CLARITY protocol until delivery, after which families will transition to the CLARITY-Baby extension study. Samples from both the newborn and parents will be collected at delivery and again at six months postpartum, accompanied by an online follow-up questionnaire completed by the parents.

The goal of this interventional study is to find out whether conservative treatment with semi-occlusive film is superior to surgical treatment in single finger amputations in adult population. The main question it aims to answer is: Is PRWHE (Patient Reported Wrist and Hand Evaluation) total score measured at 12 months after injury better in conservatively or operatively treated patients?

Lynch syndrome (LS) is an inherited cancer predisposition syndrome caused by pathogenic germline variants in DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes. New cancer screening and diagnostic tools are urgently needed to identify LS-related cancers early enough for curative treatment. Urothelial cancers (comprising bladder and upper tract urothelial tumors) are the third most common cancer after colorectal and endometrial cancers in individuals with LS. Up to one in four LS individuals will develop urothelial cancer during their lifetime, with the risk varying based on the defective MMR gene. In this clinical trial, we will employ urine tumor DNA (utDNA) to identify asymptomatic urothelial cancers in Lynch syndrome patients, and to investigate the potential benefits of urine tumor DNA based screening in this high-risk population.

Urothelial cancers of the bladder and upper urinary tract account for over 200,000 deaths and 600,000 diagnoses annually worldwide. The most common presenting symptom is hematuria (blood in urine), triggering a cascade of tests, including an invasive examination of the bladder using a flexible scope (cystoscopy). Millions of cystoscopies are performed every year worldwide for patients presenting with hematuria, but only 10% result in a cancer diagnosis. The UROSCOUT-1 trial is a prospective multicenter observational study that explores the potential of urine tumor DNA (utDNA) testing to replace a significant portion of cystoscopies in the diagnostic setting for hematuria or other reasons to rule out urothelial cancer. The goal is to enhance patient quality of life, reduce healthcare costs, and address increased workloads in urology centers. Sample collection will be conducted by mail, and the samples will be analyzed in a blinded manner, without knowledge of which patients are diagnosed with cancer. Random subsampling will be applied to cancer-negative patients to achieve an approximate 1:1 ratio between cancer-positive and -negative patients.