A pilot study on the use of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation to relieve dysmenorrhea in patients with adenomyosis and endometriosis.

Jichan Nie, Yunhua Yi, Xishi Liu, Philippe R Koninckx, Sun-Wei Guo

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Article in Reproduction & fertility, 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 authors.

Jichan NieDepartment of General Gynecology, Shanghai Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.

Yunhua YiDepartment of General Gynecology, Shanghai Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.

Xishi LiuDepartment of General Gynecology, Shanghai Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.

Philippe R KoninckxEmeritus Department Obstetrics and Gynecology, Katholieke University Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

Sun-Wei GuoResearch Institute, Shanghai Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8511-7624

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6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Adenomyosis and endometriosis are two sister diseases that cause menstrual pain and other symptoms. We have previously reported that patients with these conditions have a less active 'calm-and-rest' system and a more active 'stress-and-alert' system. Other studies have shown that a gentle, non-invasive treatment called transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) can safely and effectively boost the 'calm-and-rest' system in many disorders. So we wanted to see if taVNS could also help with menstrual pain caused by endometriosis and adenomyosis. We tried it in a small pilot study with four patients with adenomyosis and two patients with endometriosis. They received taVNS for six months. We found that taVNS was well tolerated and relieved their pain three and six months after taVNS. These early results are encouraging, but because the study was small, we need larger, more rigorous studies to fully know how well taVNS works for this kind of pain.

Indexed as

AdenomyosisDysmenorrheaEndometriosisTranscutaneous Electric Nerve StimulationVagus Nerve StimulationAdultFemaleHumansPilot ProjectsTreatment Outcomeadenomyosisdysmenorrheaendometriosistranscutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation

Identifiers

PMID42189961

DOI10.1530/RAF-26-0052

PMCPMC13250650

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