Preliminary results of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation for chronic subjective tinnitus:A controlled clinical study
ZENG Xiangli
ZHAO Baiming
ZHANG Shuqi
LI Zhicheng
CEN Jintian
GU Jing
YUAN Tao
LI Shuiyan
Abstract：Objective To report the efficacy and safety of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (T-VNS) for treat-ment of chronic subjective tinnitus. Methods Chronic subjective tinnitus patients whose THI score was≥38 points, and with a tinnitus history of ≥6 months, were randomly divided into a T-VNS and a control groups. For patients in the T-VNS group, in addition to routine treatments, T-VNS was added using a G6805-type I cupping therapy apparatus, while only routine treatment were provided to patients in the control group. Treatment efficacy was evaluated with the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Depression and Anxiety-Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) administered before and after treatment. Results Tinnitus symptoms improved more in the T-VNS group than in the control group during the 10 days of T-VNS treatment (p<0.05), with significantly improved PSQI scores, al-though there was a mild rebound of the scores at 3 months follow-up. DASS-21 scores showed decreased anxiety in the T-VNS group during VNS therapy, but no change in the control group. THI scores showed no significant difference be-tween the T-VNS and control groups either during treatment or at 3 months follow-up, although within the T-VNS group, THI scores reduced after T-VNS therapy (with no statistically significant difference) and at 3 months follow-up (statistically significant). Conclusion T-VNS may improve anxiety and sleep quality in patients who suffer from chron-ic subjective tinnitus. The primary study showed that this therapy was safe, with only transient cough or ear tingling dur-ing treatment in a minority of patients, while partially improving tinnitus distress over the 10-days treatment. Stimula-tion parameters and treatment course remain to be further investigated.
Keywords：Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve StimulationChronic Subjective TinnitusEfficacySafety
Publication Date：2016-01-01
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：4( 163-166 )