Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation May Aid Knee Pain
TUESDAY, May 27, 2025 -- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) may be a safe pain-relieving treatment for people with knee osteoarthritis (OA), according to a pilot study published in the March issue of Osteoarthritis and Cartilage Open.
Kosaku Aoyagi, Ph.D., from the University of Texas at El Paso, and colleagues treated 30 participants with knee OA to a 60-minute session of tVNS.
The researchers reported that all participants completed the intervention without any major side effects. Knee pain, which was assessed on a 0-to-10 numeric rating pain scale during a 20-m walk, was reduced by 1.27 immediately after and by 1.87 at 15 ​minutes after tVNS compared with baseline. There was a trend toward improvement in conditioned pain modulation at both time points. Similarly, there was a trend toward improvement in heart rate variability at both time points. Pressure pain threshold and temporal summation were unchanged after treatment.
"Our preliminary data demonstrated that tVNS may be a safe pain-relieving treatment for people with knee OA," the authors write. "Our findings suggest that improvement of knee pain might be derived from improvement of parasympathetic function and central pain mechanisms as no local therapy was applied. A large study is needed to confirm that tVNS is a novel intervention to ameliorate knee pain in people with knee OA."
One author disclosed ties to a bioelectronic medicine company developing wearable neuromodulation therapies.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Read this next
Personal Storytelling During Medical Training Aids Learning
THURSDAY, Sept. 25, 2025 -- A student-led program in which medical students share their own personal stories with illness during a preclinical curriculum enhances learning...
Clinical Practice Guidelines Issued for Diabetes Distress
THURSDAY, Sept. 25, 2025 -- The first clinical practice guidelines on assessment and management of diabetes distress among adults were presented at the annual meeting of the...
Older Adults Can Regain Well-Being
THURSDAY, Sept. 25, 2025 -- Older adults can regain well-being, according to a study published online Sept. 24 in PLOS ONE. Mabel Ho, Ph.D., and Esme Fuller-Thomson, Ph.D...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.