Trial reportNeuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society2025
Accelerated Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Inpatient Depression and Anxiety: The iWAVE Open Label Pilot Trial.
Trial report in Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Managing Inpatient Neuropsychiatric Conditions Using Wearable Auricular Vagus Stimulation: The iWAVE Pilot Trial
Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Preventing Emergence Agitation and Delirium After Pediatric Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Interventional Study
LasaiOn: An Intervention Program to Reduce Emotional Distress
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Sorting the mind: cognitive enhancement through transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychological medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Noninvasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation Reduces Withdrawal-Related Affective Distress and Improves Functional Outcomes in Alcohol Use Disorder: A Feasibility and Acceptability Pilot Study.Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society · 2025Trial
- An Annotation-Free Pipeline for 3D Auricular Bowl Atlas Construction and Statistical Shape Modelling from Surface Scans.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Gut-brain axis in health and brain disease.Chinese medical journal · 2026Review
- Beyond Transplantation: Engineering Neural Cell Therapies and Combination Strategies for Spinal Cord Repair.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation: mechanisms, applications, and research progress.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation after cesarean delivery: current evidence and trial design priorities.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
- Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Treating Emotional Dysregulation and Inflammation in Common Neuropsychiatric Disorders.Brain sciences · 2025Review
- Clinical efficacy and mechanisms of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation targeting the gut-brain axis for postoperative complications of aortic dissection: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Electroacupuncture and vagus nerve stimulation are emerging therapies for hyperemesis gravidarum management.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionBrain stimulation is not a common inpatient psychiatric treatment; however, there are an increasing number of neuromodulation treatments approved for psychiatric indications. Noninvasive techniques, such as transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS), are promising and should be investigated in this novel setting. This study evaluates the safety and feasibility of taVNS on the inpatient psychiatric unit and preliminarily explores efficacy for comorbid depression and anxiety. MATERIALS AND
methodsTen adult patients (five women, mean age ± SD, 35.60 ± 19.14 years) admitted to the inpatient psychiatric unit with comorbid depression and anxiety participated in this open-label safety and feasibility trial. Patients were randomized to receive one of two taVNS dosing approaches: 1) three taVNS sessions on three consecutive days (nine sessions total) (n = 5) or 2) nine taVNS sessions in one day (n = 5). Each day, we assessed depression, using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and anxiety, using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI).
resultsBoth taVNS dosing approaches were safe and feasible in this novel setting. There were no serious adverse events, and we observed a low rate of minor adverse effects, which was similar across treatment conditions. Regardless of condition, stimulation significantly reduced GAD-7 (mean reduction ± SD, -5.90 to 6.87, p < 0.05), BAI (-9.40 ± 10.52, p < 0.05), PHQ-9 (-6.00 ± 7.57, p < 0.05), and BDI (-11.00 ± 11.59, p < 0.05) final scores compared with baseline. There was not a significant difference in clinical response between treatment conditions. DISCUSSION: In this open label study, taVNS significantly decreased depression and anxiety symptoms in patients admitted to the inpatient unit. The small sample size in this trial limited our ability to characterize patient characteristics that may drive response. However, our results suggest taVNS may be an effective adjunct to inpatient psychiatric treatment and should continue to be studied in this setting. CLINICAL
trial registrationThe Clinicaltrials.gov registration number for the study is NCT05791383.
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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.