Improvement effect of LF-rTMS combined with taVNS on upper limb function in patients with cerebral hemorrhage
LIU Zhanhao
ZHANG Huadi
CHEN Qiwen
CHEN Si
CHEN Hanbo
FENG Chongrui
Abstract：Objective To investigate the efficacy of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation(LF-rTMS)combined with transauricular auricular vagus nerve stimulation(taVNS)in improving upper limb function in pa-tients with intracerebral haemorrhage.Methods Sixty patients with hemiplegia due to intracerebral haemorrhage were randomly divided into the LF-rTMS group and the combined therapy group,with 30 in each.Patients in both groups re-ceived standard pharmacological and rehabilitation therapy.Patients in the LF-rTMS group additionally underwent LF-rT-MS targeting the contralateral primary motor cortex,while patients in the combined therapy group concurrently received taVNS alongside LF-rTMS.The treatment cycle lasted four weeks.Upper limb motor function was assessed pre-and post-treatment using the Fugl-Meyer Upper Limb Scale(FMA-UE)and the Hong Kong edition of Functional Test for the Hemi-plegic Upper Extremity(FTHUE-HK).Near-infrared brain functional imaging was employed to measure changes in cere-bral tissue oxyhaemoglobin(HbO₂)concentration to evaluate the cortical functional activation levels.Results Pre-treat-ment FMA-UE and FTHUE-HK scores showed no statistically significant differences between groups(all P>0.05).After treatment,the LF-rTMS group exhibited higher FMA-UE scores,while the combined therapy group demonstrated higher FMA-UE and FTHUE-HK scores in comparison with the pre-treatment levels(both P<0.05).Furthermore,the combined therapy group achieved significantly higher FMA-UE and FTHUE-HK scores than the LF-rTMS group(both P<0.05).Pre-treatment cerebral tissue HbO₂ concentrations showed no statistically significant differences between groups(P>0.05).Af-ter treatment,HbO₂ concentrations increased in both groups in comparison with the baseline,with the combined therapy group exhibiting higher levels than the LF-rTMS group(both P<0.05).Conclusion LF-rTMS combined with taVNS may effectively improve upper limb motor function in patients with intracerebral haemorrhage by enhancing cortical func-tional activation levels.
Keywords：intracerebral haemorrhagelow-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulationtransauricular vagus nerve stimulationupper limb functionnear-infrared brain functional imaging
Publication Date：2026-02-25
Online Publishing Date：2026-03-19(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：5( 11-15 )