A clinical study on the augmented therapeutic effects of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation combined with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of moderate-to-severe depression.

Shuhui Gao, Yuan Zhang, Kun Mi, Haizhu Yu, Mengxue Wu, Lin Li

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Article in Pakistan journal of medical sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

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6 authors.

Shuhui GaoShuhui Gao, Department of Physical Therapy, Hebei Provincial Mental Health Center, The Sixth People's Hospital of Hebei Province, Baoding 071000, Hebei, China.

Yuan ZhangYuan Zhang, Department of Physical Therapy, Hebei Provincial Mental Health Center, The Sixth People's Hospital of Hebei Province, Baoding 071000, Hebei, China.

Kun MiKun Mi, Department of Physical Therapy, Hebei Provincial Mental Health Center, The Sixth People's Hospital of Hebei Province, Baoding 071000, Hebei, China.

Haizhu YuHaizhu Yu, Department of Physical Therapy, Hebei Provincial Mental Health Center, The Sixth People's Hospital of Hebei Province, Baoding 071000, Hebei, China.

Mengxue WuMengxue Wu, Department of Physical Therapy, Hebei Provincial Mental Health Center, The Sixth People's Hospital of Hebei Province, Baoding 071000, Hebei, China.

Lin LiLin Li, Department of Physical Therapy, Hebei Provincial Mental Health Center, The Sixth People's Hospital of Hebei Province, Baoding 071000, Hebei, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) combined with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in the treatment of moderate-to-severe depression. Methodology: This was a retrospective study. A total of 180 patients diagnosed with moderate-to-severe depression and admitted to Hebei Provincial Mental Health Center between July 2023 to March 2025 were enrolled and randomized into three groups( Results: The overall response rate was 85% in Group-C, significantly higher than the 70% in Group-A and the 66% in Group-R ( Conclusion: The combination of taVNS and rTMS demonstrates a synergistic effect in the treatment of moderate-to-severe depression, which is considered a safe and effective therapeutic strategy as it can significantly improve clinical symptoms and sleep quality without increasing adverse effects.

Indexed as

Moderate-to-severe depressionRepetitive transcranial magnetic stimulationTranscutaneous ear acupointTreatmentVagus nerve stimulation

Identifiers

PMID41994391

DOI10.12669/pjms.42.3.13028

PMCPMC13080050

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