SynthesisScientific reports2026
An individual patient data meta-analysis on vagal nerve stimulation for recovery from disorders of consciousness.
Synthesis in Scientific reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Multimodal Assessment of Consciousness with Brain-Computer Interfaces and Artificial Intelligence: From Acquired Brain Injury to Neurodegenerative Disease.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation for disorders of consciousness: a narrative review of neurophysiological mechanisms, clinical evidence, and future directions.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Review
- Implantable vagus nerve stimulation for the treatment of disorders of consciousness with epilepsy: a retrospective propensity score-matched clinical study.Therapeutic advances in neurological disorders · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Disorders of consciousness (DoC), including vegetative state (VS), unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS), and minimally conscious state (MCS), are characterized by impaired consciousness and have limited therapeutic options. We aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of individual participant data (IPD) on the efficacy of vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) for DoC. A systematic literature search identified studies on the use of VNS in patients with DoC. IPD were extracted from included studies and pooled for analysis. The primary outcome was improvement in consciousness, assessed clinically using the Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R). A total of 10 studies including 112 patients were identified. VNS was associated with significant improvements in consciousness, with a mean increase of 2.78 (95% CI 1.62 to 3.94) in CRS-R. 40.2% of patients demonstrated an improvement in CRS-R score above the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) of 3 or more. Patients in MCS improved more than those in coma or VS/UWS. This IPD meta-analysis provides early evidence for the efficacy of VNS in improving consciousness in patients with DoC. Our results imply the need for high-quality randomized controlled trials for both invasive and non-invasive VNS to better inform its role in DoC neuro-recovery.
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Registered trials
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