Efficacy of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Postoperative Pain Relief in Patients Undergoing Elective Laparoscopic Gastrointestinal Tumor Surgery.

IF 4.4 2区医学 Q1 CLINICAL NEUROLOGY

Pain and Therapy Pub Date : 2026-06-01 Epub Date: 2026-03-13 DOI:10.1007/s40122-026-00825-y

Yu Yi, Yongjie Li, Ge Luo, Yiqi Fang, Lin He, Hongjin Ni, Hongming Wu, Meihui Li, Suyun Xia, Weidong Wu, Longfei Ma, Lina Yu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Introduction: Acute postoperative pain remains prevalent among patients undergoing gastrointestinal tumor surgery. The study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) in alleviating postoperative pain in this population.

Methods: This patient- and assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial was conducted at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine. Eligible participants who underwent elective laparoscopic gastrointestinal tumor surgery were randomly assigned to the taVNS or control stimulation group. Both groups received the stimulation on the day before surgery and the day after surgery. The primary outcome was the change in visual analogue scale (VAS) scores at 24 h postoperatively.

Results: The median reduction in VAS scores was 12.0 in the taVNS group, compared with 5.0 in the control stimulation group (median [interquartile range, IQR] 12.0 [10.0-13.3] mm vs 5.0 [2.0-8.0] mm; P < 0.001). Additionally, the taVNS group showed lower cumulative morphine milligram equivalents (MME) at 48 h (median [IQR] 0 [0-5] mg vs 5 [0-10] mg; P = 0.004) and 72 h (median [IQR] 0 [0-5] mg vs 5 [0-10] mg; P = 0.002), and shorter time to first flatus (median [IQR] 45 [40-60] h vs 75 [60-85] h; P < 0.001). The incidence of complications, length of hospital stay, and quality of recovery-15 (QoR-15) scores are similar between groups.

Conclusion: TaVNS statistically alleviated postoperative pain in patients undergoing gastrointestinal tumor surgery, decreased analgesic requirements, and promoted gastrointestinal function recovery.

Trial registration: NCT06763913.

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经皮耳迷走神经刺激对选择性腹腔镜胃肠道肿瘤手术患者术后疼痛缓解的疗效。

急性术后疼痛在接受胃肠道肿瘤手术的患者中仍然普遍存在。本研究旨在评估经皮耳迷走神经刺激（taVNS）缓解该人群术后疼痛的疗效。方法：在浙江大学医学院第二附属医院进行患者和评估者双盲随机对照试验。接受选择性腹腔镜胃肠道肿瘤手术的符合条件的参与者被随机分配到taVNS或对照刺激组。两组均于术前、术后1天给予刺激。主要观察指标为术后24 h视觉模拟评分（VAS）的变化。结果：taVNS组VAS评分中位数降低12.0，对照组为5.0（中位数[四分位间距，IQR] 12.0 [10.0-13.3] mm vs 5.0 [2.0-8.0] mm）； P结论：taVNS可显著减轻胃肠道肿瘤手术患者术后疼痛，减少镇痛需求，促进胃肠功能恢复。试验注册：NCT06763913。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Pain and Therapy CLINICAL NEUROLOGY-

CiteScore

6.60

自引率

5.00%

发文量

110

审稿时长

6 weeks

期刊介绍： Pain and Therapy is an international, open access, peer-reviewed, rapid publication journal dedicated to the publication of high-quality clinical (all phases), observational, real-world, and health outcomes research around the discovery, development, and use of pain therapies and pain-related devices. Studies relating to diagnosis, pharmacoeconomics, public health, quality of life, and patient care, management, and education are also encouraged. Areas of focus include, but are not limited to, acute pain, cancer pain, chronic pain, headache and migraine, neuropathic pain, opioids, palliative care and pain ethics, peri- and post-operative pain as well as rheumatic pain and fibromyalgia. The journal is of interest to a broad audience of pharmaceutical and healthcare professionals and publishes original research, reviews, case reports, trial protocols, short communications such as commentaries and editorials, and letters. The journal is read by a global audience and receives submissions from around the world. Pain and Therapy will consider all scientifically sound research be it positive, confirmatory or negative data. Submissions are welcomed whether they relate to an international and/or a country-specific audience, something that is crucially important when researchers are trying to target more specific patient populations. This inclusive approach allows the journal to assist in the dissemination of all scientifically and ethically sound research.