A retrospective study of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation for poststroke epilepsy

Abstract

Background:This study assessed the effect transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (TVNS) for poststroke epilepsy (PSE).Methods:Fifty-two patients with PSE were included in this study. Twenty-seven patients received TVNS, 30 minutes each session, once daily, twice weekly for a total of 4 weeks; and were assigned to the treatment group. Twenty-five patients were at waiting list and were assigned to the control group. The primary outcome included weekly seizure frequency. The secondary outcomes consisted of each seizure episode, and quality of life, measured by the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory-31 (QOLIE-31), as well as the adverse events. All outcomes were measured before and after 4-week treatment.Results:After treatment, TVNS failed to show better outcomes in weekly seizure frequency (treatment group, P = .12; control group, P = .56), seizure episode (treatment group, P = .65; control group, P = .92), and QOLIE-31 (treatment group, P = .73; control group, P = .84) compared with these before the treatment. Furthermore, TVNS also did not elaborate the promising effect in seizure frequency (P = .81), seizure episode (P = .75), and QOLIE-31 (P = .33), compared with these in the control group. In addition, minor and acceptable adverse events were recorded in this study.Conclusion:The results of this study showed that TVNS may be not effective for Chinese patients PSE after 4-week treatment.

Effect of vagus nerve stimulation on blood glucose concentration in epilepsy patients – Importance of stimulation parameters

“…The effectiveness of invasive cervical VNS in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy has been demonstrated repeatedly (Pakdaman et al, 2016;Kawai et al, 2017;Vivas et al, 2017). Furthermore, some initial trials on noninvasive transcutaneous auricular VNS reported promising results (He et al, 2013;Bauer et al, 2016;Barbella et al, 2018), although not all studies demonstrated effectiveness (Song et al, 2018). Other potential clinical indications for VNS, such as heart failure (Premchand et al, 2014;Zannad et al, 2015;Gold et al, 2016), Crohn's disease (Bonaz et al, 2016), chronic pain management (Chakravarthy et al, 2015), and obesity (Bodenlos et al, 2007;Pardo et al, 2007;Bodenlos et al, 2014) are emerging.…”

Therapeutische Neurostimulation bei Epilepsien

“…Vier prospektive Studien, die eine bilaterale tVNS mit 20 Hz an wendeten, berichteten über eine signifikante Reduktion der An fallshäufigkeit: He et al [41] [45]. Zwei weitere Studien fanden keinen signifikanten Effekt bei post Stroke-Epilepsie [46] und bei allgemein pharmakorefraktärer Epilepsie [47]. Insgesamt ist damit die Evidenz für die Wirksamkeit von tVNS bei der Reduzierung der Anfallshäufigkeit eingeschränkt, es fehlen vergleichende Studien mit Einsatz unterschiedlicher Geräte und unilateraler vs. bilatera ler Stimulation.…”

Efficacy and Safety of Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Upper Limb Motor Recovery After Stroke. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…None of the mild AEs required changes in therapy protocol and all of them self-resolved during the follow-up period (34,47,49). Four studies reported AEs in transcutaneous VNS, observing fatigue, dizziness, ear pain, skin redness and tiredness (43,45,53). In the study by Capone et al (transcutaneous VNS) there were no adverse events and patients did not report discomfort from the procedure (46).…”