Brain Stimul
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation (tVNS) for Treatment of Drug-Resistant Epilepsy: A Randomized, Double-Blind Clinical Trial (cMPsE02).
Various brain stimulation techniques are in use to treat epilepsy. These methods usually require surgical implantation procedures. Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) is a non-invasive technique to stimulate the left auricular branch of the vagus nerve at the ear conch. ⋯ tVNS had a high treatment adherence and was well tolerated. Superiority of 25 Hz tVNS over 1 Hz tVNS could not be proven in this relatively small study, which might be attributed to the higher stimulation intensity in the control group. Efficacy data revealed results that justify further trials with larger patient numbers and longer observation periods.