Could a simple belly wrap beat pills for dizziness when standing?

NCT ID NCT02429557

Knowledge-focused Sponsor: Vanderbilt University Medical Center Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026

Summary

This study looked at how an abdominal compression binder (like a tight belt) helps people with autonomic failure who get dizzy or faint when standing due to low blood pressure. Researchers compared the binder to a standard medication (midodrine) and a placebo in 21 adults. The goal was to understand how the binder improves blood flow and blood pressure, not to prove it works as a treatment.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance: abdominal compression (abdominal binder) and midodrine
What this could lead to: If successful, this could lead to a simple, non-drug method to manage low blood pressure upon standing in people with autonomic failure.
What could go wrong: This is a small, early-phase study with only 21 participants, so results may not apply widely. The abdominal binder may be uncomfortable or less effective than medication for some.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Phase 1

The first testing in people. Mainly checks safety and dose, usually in a small group.

Participants

21 people

The number who actually took part.

Started

Apr 2015

Finished

Dec 2025

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

18 to 80 years

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Male and female patients, * between 18-80 yrs., * with neurogenic orthostatic hypotension associated with primary autonomic failure (Parkinson Disease, Multiple System Atrophy and Pure Autonomic Failure). Orthostatic hypotension will be defined as ≥20 mmHg decrease in systolic BP or ≥10 mmHg of diastolic BP within 3 minutes on standing associated with impaired autonomic reflexes determined by autonomic testing in the absence of other identifiable causes (Freeman et al., 2011). * Patients able and willing to provide informed consent. Exclusion Criteria: * Pregnancy. * Significant cardiac, renal or hepatic illness, or with contraindications to administration of pressor agents or external abdominal compression will be excluded. * Clinically unstable coronary artery disease, or major cardiovascular or neurological event in the past 6 months, and; other factors which in the investigator's opinion would prevent the subject from completing the protocol including clinically significant abnormalities in clinical, mental or laboratory testing

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

Hypotension, Orthostatic multiple system atrophy orthostatic hypotension Parkinson disease pure autonomic failure

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Autonomic failure Multiple system atrophy Orthostatic hypotension Pure autonomic failure

Could a simple belly wrap beat pills for dizziness when standing?

What the study statuses mean