Trial reportJournal of oral rehabilitation2025
Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation for the Treatment of Myoarthropathic Symptoms Associated With Temporomandibular Disorders-A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial.
Trial report in Journal of oral rehabilitation, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Transcutaneous Auricular Vagal Nerve Stimulation Against Fatigue Syndrome in Patients with Long COVID: Results of the Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Pilot Trial COVIVA.Neurology and therapy · 2026Article
- Participant-centered tolerability of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation: insights from two crossover studies.Bioelectronic medicine · 2026Article
- Beyond traditional treatments: vagal nerve stimulation for painful temporomandibular disorders.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Research Progress of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Chronic Pain Management: A Narrative Review.Journal of pain research · 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
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTranscutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) is a safe and feasible treatment for a variety of acute and chronic pain conditions. However, no evidence about taVNS effectiveness in patients with chronic pain associated with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) is available.
objectiveTo evaluate the feasibility of and compliance with taVNS in participants experiencing chronic TMD pain and potential effects on pain, psychological well-being, muscle activity, and kinematics.
methodsTwenty adults with chronic TMD pain were randomised to receive taVNS (n = 10) or sham (n = 10). In the taVNS group, stimulation was performed on the left tragus for 4 h daily (25 Hz, pulse width 250 μs, 28 s on/32 s off). In the sham group, an inactive non-functional sham electrode was used. Patient-reported outcome measures (GCPS, PHQ-9, GAD-7, PHQ-15, and OHIP-G14), muscle activity, and kinematics were assessed at baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks. Compliance was assessed using a smartphone app, which recorded daily stimulation time and intensity.
resultsRecruitment and retention rates were high (100% and 90%, respectively), with 83% adherence to the intervention. Participants receiving taVNS showed a large effect on oral health-related quality of life, and at least a small but potentially important effect on pain intensity, anxiety, depression, severity of somatic symptoms, muscle activity, and kinematics. However, none of these differences were statistically significant. No serious adverse events were identified.
conclusiontaVNS proved feasible in participants with chronic TMD pain, suggesting potential benefits for symptom management. Future studies with larger sample sizes and extended follow-up durations are necessary to confirm efficacy and safety.
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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.