SynthesisCephalalgia : an international journal of headache2019
Differential efficacy of non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation for the acute treatment of episodic and chronic cluster headache: A meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Cephalalgia : an international journal of headache, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 24 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Non-invasive Neurostimulation of the Vagus Nerve With the GammaCore Device for the Treatment of Cluster Headache
A Randomized, Multicentre, Double-blind, Parallel, Sham-controlled Study of GammaCore®, a Non-invasive Neurostimulator Device for the Acute Relief of Episodic and Chronic Cluster Headache.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- Noninvasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Cluster Headache and Migraine: A Health Technology Assessment.Ontario health technology assessment series · 2025Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of Noninvasive Brain Stimulation for Opioid Use Disorder.Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society · 2020Pooled it
- Trial
- Without getting under your skin: non-invasive stimulation activates the vagus nerve.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Non-Invasive Neuromodulation in the Treatment of Headache.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2025Review
- Non-Invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Cluster Headache: A Clinical Practice Guideline.Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain · 2025Review
- 15. Cluster Headache.Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain · 2025Review
- Update on Neuromodulation for Migraine and Other Primary Headache Disorders: Recent Advances and New Indications.Current pain and headache reports · 2025Review
- Novel Conservative Therapies in Migraine Management: The Impact of Fascia Exercises in a Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Neuromodulation for Headache Management in Pregnancy.Current pain and headache reports · 2025Review
- Association of Clinical and Neuroanatomic Factors With Response to Ventral Tegmental Area DBS in Chronic Cluster Headache.Neurology · 2023Observational
- [Galcanezumab for episodic and chronic cluster headache].Schmerz (Berlin, Germany) · 2023Review
- The Role of the Autonomic Nervous System in Headache: Biomarkers and Treatment.Current pain and headache reports · 2022Review
- Neuromodulation for Chronic Daily Headache.Current pain and headache reports · 2022Review
- Effectiveness and acceptability of noninvasive brain and nerve stimulation techniques for migraine prophylaxis: a network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.The journal of headache and pain · 2022Article
- Cluster headache in adults.Australian prescriber · 2022Review
- Response Predictors of Repetitive Neuromuscular Magnetic Stimulation in the Preventive Treatment of Episodic Migraine.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- gammaCore for Cluster Headaches: A NICE Medical Technologies Guidance.PharmacoEconomics - open · 2021Review
- Comprehensive clinical phenotyping of nitroglycerin infusion induced cluster headache attacks.Cephalalgia : an international journal of headache · 2021Article
- Cluster headache pathophysiology - insights from current and emerging treatments.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 8 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTwo randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trials (ACT1, ACT2) evaluated non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) as acute treatment for cluster headache. We analyzed pooled ACT1/ACT2 data to increase statistical power and gain insight into the differential efficacy of nVNS in episodic and chronic cluster headache.
methodsData extracted from ACT1 and ACT2 were pooled using a fixed-effects model. Main outcome measures were the primary endpoints of each study. This was the proportion of participants whose first treated attack improved from moderate (2), severe (3), or very severe (4) pain intensity to mild (1) or nil (0) for ACT1 and the proportion of treated attacks whose pain intensity improved from 2-4 to 0 for ACT2.
resultsThe pooled population included 225 participants (episodic: n = 112; chronic: n = 113) from ACT1 (n = 133) and ACT2 (n = 92) in the nVNS (n = 108) and sham (n = 117) groups. Interaction was shown between treatment group and cluster headache subtype (
conclusionsnVNS is a well-tolerated and effective acute treatment for episodic cluster headache.
trial registrationThe studies were registered at clinicaltrials.gov (ACT1: NCT01792817; ACT2: NCT01958125).
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.