A retrospective study of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation for poststroke epilepsy

BACKGROUND: This study assessed the effect transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (TVNS) for poststroke epilepsy (PSE). METHODS: Fifty-two patients with PSE were included in this study. Twenty-seven patients received TVNS, 30 minutes each session, once daily, twice weekly for a total of 4 weeks; and were assigned to the treatment group. Twenty-five patients were at waiting list and were assigned to the control group. The primary outcome included weekly seizure frequency. The secondary outcomes consisted of each seizure episode, and quality of life, measured by the Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory-31 (QOLIE-31), as well as the adverse events. All outcomes were measured before and after 4-week treatment. RESULTS: After treatment, TVNS failed to show better outcomes in weekly seizure frequency (treatment group, P = .12; control group, P = .56), seizure episode (treatment group, P = .65; control group, P = .92), and QOLIE-31 (treatment group, P = .73; control group, P = .84) compared with these before the treatment. Furthermore, TVNS also did not elaborate the promising effect in seizure frequency (P = .81), seizure episode (P = .75), and QOLIE-31 (P = .33), compared with these in the control group. In addition, minor and acceptable adverse events were recorded in this study. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that TVNS may be not effective for Chinese patients PSE after 4-week treatment.