Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40346648›Full record

ArticleActa epileptologica2025

Safety and effectiveness of vagus nerve stimulation in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy: a single center experience.

Ebtehal Alwazna, Jamal Abdullah, Hanin Alsini, Marahib Alshahrani, Wafa Aldhafeeri, Alawi Al-Attas, Abeer Alshaikh, Mashael Alanazi, Hamoud Alsahli, Mohammed Alshahrani and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Acta epileptologica, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Beyond seizures: understanding adaptive functioning in drug-resistant epilepsy in patients undergoing palliative surgery.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2026
    Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Ebtehal AlwaznaDepartment of Neurology, Division of Epilepsy, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh P. O. Box: 59046, Riyadh, 11159, Saudi Arabia.
Jamal AbdullahDepartment of Neurosurgery, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, 11159, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Hanin AlsiniDepartment of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Neurology, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Marahib AlshahraniDepartment of Neurosurgery, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, 11159, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Wafa AldhafeeriDepartment of Neurosurgery, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, 11159, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Alawi Al-AttasDepartment of Neurology, Division of Epilepsy, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh P. O. Box: 59046, Riyadh, 11159, Saudi Arabia. alawiattas@yahoo.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2575-1081
Abeer AlshaikhDepartment of Neurology, Division of Epilepsy, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh P. O. Box: 59046, Riyadh, 11159, Saudi Arabia.
Mashael AlanaziDepartment of Neurology, Division of Epilepsy, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh P. O. Box: 59046, Riyadh, 11159, Saudi Arabia.
Hamoud AlsahliDepartment of Neurology, Division of Epilepsy, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh P. O. Box: 59046, Riyadh, 11159, Saudi Arabia.
Mohammed AlshahraniDepartment of Neurology, Division of Epilepsy, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh P. O. Box: 59046, Riyadh, 11159, Saudi Arabia.
Shatha AlshafiDepartment of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Neurology, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Brahim TabarkiDepartment of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Neurology, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Abdulrahman NazerDepartment of Neurosurgery, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, 11159, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Sonia KhanDepartment of Neurology, Division of Epilepsy, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh P. O. Box: 59046, Riyadh, 11159, Saudi Arabia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDrug-resistant epilepsy (DRE) exerts substantial clinical, humanistic and economic burdens on patients, their families and the healthcare system. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has been extensively tested in clinical trial settings to decrease the frequency of seizures in patients with DRE who are not candidates for surgery; the results indicate promising efficacy and a well-tolerated safety profile. However, real-world evidence is still lacking. This retrospective study evaluated the safety and efficacy of VNS in patients with DRE.

methodsThe current study was a retrospective chart review of the medical records of children and adults with DRE treated with VNS between December 2006 and November 2022. The primary outcome of the present study was the percentage of patients who experienced a reduction in seizure frequency of more than 50% compared with the frequency at baseline (the period before VNS device insertion).

resultsA total of 103 patients were included. The percentage of patients who achieved a reduction of more than 50% in seizure frequency was 23% at six months, 36% at 12 months, 65% at 18 months, and 72% at 24 months. Similarly, the percentage of patients with complete resolution of interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) increased from 30% at six months to 60% after 24 months. The overall Quality of Life in Epilepsy (QOLIE-31) score at the end of follow-up was 39.46 ± 13.68 points. Two patients (1.9%) reported experiencing side effects at the end of follow-up.

conclusionsVNS implementation led to a significant reduction in the seizure frequency and resolution of IEDs, with a well-tolerated safety profile. The findings highlight the potential role of VNS in managing DRE and warrant its consideration for treating patients with DRE.

Indexed as

Drug-resistant epilepsyEffectivenessInterictal epileptiform dischargesLong-term outcomesQuality of lifeSafety profileSeizure

Identifiers

PMID40346648
PMCPMC12063379

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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.