SynthesisPloS one2021
Tinnitus treatment by vagus nerve stimulation: A systematic review.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07711639 (Efficacy of Foot Reflexology and Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Tinnitus in Non-Cancer Adult Populations), which is not on this map. Cited by 25 papers.
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.
Efficacy of Foot Reflexology and Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Tinnitus in Non-Cancer Adult Populations
Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 43 citations in OpenAlex.
- Auricular Ultrasonic Vagus Nerve Stimulation: Effectiveness of Blinding and the Occurrence of Adverse Effects in People with Tinnitus.Brain sciences · 2026Article
- Article
- Auricular Ultrasonic Vagus Nerve Stimulation: Effectiveness of Blinding and Occurrence of Adverse Effects in Healthy Volunteers.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Consensus Statements on Tinnitus Treatment: A Delphi Study by the Korean Tinnitus Study Group.Journal of Korean medical science · 2025Article
- Clinical Efficacy of Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation in the Treatment of Chronic and Acute Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Pain and therapy · 2024Review
- Investigating neuromodulatory effect of transauricular vagus nerve stimulation on resting-state electroencephalography.Biomedical engineering letters · 2024Article
- Graph-Based Electroencephalography Analysis in Tinnitus Therapy.Biomedicines · 2024Article
- Tinnitus in Children.Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology : JARO · 2024Review
- Article
- Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation to Improve Emotional State.Biomedicines · 2024Review
- Advances in VNS efficiency and mechanisms of action on cognitive functions.Frontiers in physiology · 2024Review
- Current status of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation for tinnitus: a narrative review of modern research.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Review
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation can modulate fronto-parietal brain networks.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Article
- Recent Updates on Tinnitus Management.Journal of audiology & otology · 2023Review
- Effects of Transcutaneous Trigeminal Electrical Stimulation and Sound Therapy in Patients with Tinnitus.Yonsei medical journal · 2023Article
- Effects of Non-Invasive Neuromodulation of the Vagus Nerve for Management of Tinnitus: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- State of the art: non-invasive electrical stimulation for the treatment of chronic tinnitus.Therapeutic advances in chronic disease · 2023Review
- Potential uses of auditory nerve stimulation to modulate immune responses in the inner ear and auditory brainstem.Frontiers in integrative neuroscience · 2023Article
- A Protocol to Investigate Deep Brain Stimulation for Refractory Tinnitus: From Rat Model to the Set-Up of a Human Pilot Study.Audiology research · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTinnitus is a phantom sensation of sound, which can have a negative impact on quality of life of those affected. No curative treatments are currently known. Neuromodulation by vagus nerve stimulation has emerged as a new treatment option for tinnitus, though till date the effectiveness remains unclear. Therefore, we aim to review the effect of vagus nerve stimulation on tinnitus distress and tinnitus symptom severity in patients with chronic tinnitus.
methodsWe searched Pubmed, Embase and the Cochrane Library systematically for RCTs, observational studies and case studies on the effect of VNS treatment for tinnitus on October 29, 2019. Studies including adult patients with subjective tinnitus, comparing transcutaneous or implantable VNS to placebo or no treatment or before and after application of VNS treatment on tinnitus distress and tinnitus symptom severity measured with a validated questionnaire were eligible. The risk of bias was assessed with the appropriate tool for each type of study.
resultsOur search identified 9 primary studies of which 2 RCTs, 5 cohort studies and 2 case series or reports. 5 studies used transcutaneous VNS treatment and 4 used implanted VNS treatment. 6 studies combined VNS treatment with sound therapy. There was a serious risk of bias in all studies, especially on confounding. Most studies reported a small decrease in tinnitus distress or tinnitus symptom severity.
conclusionDue to methodological limitations and low reporting quality of the included studies, the effect of VNS on tinnitus remains unclear. To draw conclusions for which patient population and to what extent (t)VNS is beneficial in the treatment of tinnitus, a randomised controlled trial should be considered.
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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.