A new study suggests that transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (TVNS) can significantly improve sleep quality for individuals suffering from chronic insomnia.
Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation ( TVNS ) improved sleep quality significantly in a small, sham-controlled trial, substantially expanding a growing body of evidence supporting its safety and efficacy for chronic insomnia. On the primary endpoint of improvement in the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the benefit of TVNS was documented at the end of an 8-week treatment period as well through follow-up lasting an additional 12 weeks, new data showed.
The study included 72 participants who had at least a 3-month history of insomnia as defined by the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Patients with more complicated forms of insomnia, including sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and restless leg syndrome were excluded. Although all patients were required to have a PSQI score of at least 8 (scale 0-21 with 8 signifying poor sleep quality) at entry, they were not necessarily refractory to prior treatment, study investigator Yu Wang, MD, PhD, Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China, noted. but he acknowledged this group “merits further exploration in our future studies.” Both active treatment and sham-controlled participants received electrical stimulation delivered to the bilateral auricular and cymba conchae for 30 minutes twice per day on 5 consecutive days for 8 weeks. However, at 0.1 mA, the current intensity in the sham group was considered to be below the therapeutic threshold. The higher intensity stimulation in the active treatment group was adjusted to the patient’s maximum tolerable levels. Treatments were self-administered or by a family member at home. With a 2.5-point reduction in the PSQI considered to be a minimal clinically important change, both groups achieved a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in insomnia from baseline at 8 weeks. But the 4.2-point greater mean change in the TVNS group (−8.2 vs −3.0), was maintained at 12 weeks.
INSOMNIA SLEEP TVNS Vagus Nerve Stimulation CHRONIC ILLNESS
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