ReviewCureus2024
Effects of Non-invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Inflammatory Markers in COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Review in Cureus, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Efficacy and Safety of Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review and Methodological Evaluation of Randomized Controlled Trials.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Pooled it
- Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Post-COVID-19 Condition: A Systematic Review and Critical Appraisal of Clinical Evidence.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- A Review of Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Disease: Comprehensive Theory and Evidence for Mechanisms of Action.Comprehensive physiology · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The international healthcare community has encountered several difficulties because of the COVID-19 pandemic brought on by SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19 can lead to an abnormal immune response that features excessive inflammation, so targeting the vagus nerve through non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) may hold promise as an intervention. This meta-analysis aimed to examine the outcomes of using nVNS on different inflammatory biomarkers in COVID-19 patients. Up until May 2023, we performed a review of online databases. We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that discussed how nVNS affected patients with COVID-19's clinical outcomes. Using the Revman 5.4 software (Cochrane, London, United Kingdom), a meta-analysis was carried out to find the pooled mean difference (MD), with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), of nVNS effects on different inflammatory biomarkers, including interleukin-10 (IL-10), C-reactive protein (CRP), IL-6, and cortisol levels. The review included four RCTs involving 180 COVID-19 patients. Following nVNS treatment, there was a significant increase in IL-10 levels (MD = 1.53, 95% CI: 0.77, 2.29; p < 0.001). CRP levels (MD = -2.24, 95% CI: -4.52, 0.05; p = 0.06), IL-6 levels (MD = 4.07, 95% CI: -3.16, 11.32; p = 0.27), cortisol levels (MD = 1.45, 95% CI: -11.67, 14.57; p = 0.83), and D-dimer levels (MD = -0.47, 95% CI: -1.31, 0.38; p = 0.28) did not differ significantly. These findings suggest that nVNS may positively impact certain inflammatory markers in COVID-19 patients, suggesting that nVNS could be a beneficial adjunctive treatment.
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.