Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA.
Pain Med. 2012 Jun;13(6):777-89. doi: 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2012.01385.x. Epub 2012 May 8.
OBJECTIVE: Previous vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) studies have demonstrated antinociceptive effects, and recent noninvasive approaches, termed transcutaneous-vagus nerve stimulation (t-VNS), have utilized stimulation of the auricular branch of the vagus nerve in the ear. The dorsal medullary vagal system operates in tune with respiration, and we propose that supplying vagal afferent stimulation gated to the exhalation phase of respiration can optimize t-VNS. DESIGN: Counterbalanced, crossover study. PATIENTS: Patients with chronic pelvic pain (CPP) due to endometriosis in a specialty pain clinic. INTERVENTIONS/OUTCOMES: We evaluated evoked pain analgesia for respiratory-gated auricular vagal afferent nerve stimulation (RAVANS) compared with nonvagal auricular stimulation (NVAS). RAVANS and NVAS were evaluated in separate sessions spaced at least 1 week apart. Outcome measures included deep-tissue pain intensity, temporal summation of pain, and anxiety ratings, which were assessed at baseline, during active stimulation, immediately following stimulation, and 15 minutes after stimulus cessation. RESULTS: RAVANS demonstrated a trend for reduced evoked pain intensity and temporal summation of mechanical pain, and significantly reduced anxiety in N = 15 CPP patients, compared with NVAS, with moderate to large effect sizes (η(2) > 0.2). CONCLUSION: Chronic pain disorders such as CPP are in great need of effective, nonpharmacological options for treatment. RAVANS produced promising antinociceptive effects for quantitative sensory testing (QST) outcomes reflective of the noted hyperalgesia and central sensitization in this patient population. Future studies should evaluate longer-term application of RAVANS to examine its effects on both QST outcomes and clinical pain.
目的:先前的迷走神经刺激(VNS)研究已经证明了镇痛作用,而最近的非侵入性方法,称为经皮迷走神经刺激(t-VNS),则利用了耳朵迷走神经耳支的刺激。背侧延髓迷走神经系统与呼吸同步运行,我们提出,提供与呼吸呼气阶段门控的迷走传入刺激可以优化 t-VNS。 设计:平衡、交叉研究。 患者:在专门的疼痛诊所中,由于子宫内膜异位症而患有慢性盆腔疼痛(CPP)的患者。 干预措施/结果:我们评估了呼吸门控耳迷走传入神经刺激(RAVANS)与非迷走耳刺激(NVAS)相比的诱发疼痛镇痛作用。RAVANS 和 NVAS 在至少相隔 1 周的单独疗程中进行评估。评估指标包括深部组织疼痛强度、疼痛的时间总和以及焦虑评分,这些评分在基线时、主动刺激期间、刺激结束后立即和刺激停止后 15 分钟进行评估。 结果:与 NVAS 相比,RAVANS 在 N = 15 例 CPP 患者中显示出降低诱发疼痛强度和机械性疼痛时间总和的趋势,并且显著降低了焦虑,具有中等至大的效应大小(η(2) > 0.2)。 结论:像 CPP 这样的慢性疼痛障碍非常需要有效的、非药物的治疗选择。RAVANS 对定量感觉测试(QST)结果产生了有希望的镇痛作用,这些结果反映了该患者群体中明显的痛觉过敏和中枢敏化。未来的研究应评估 RAVANS 的长期应用,以研究其对 QST 结果和临床疼痛的影响。
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