Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Post-COVID Syndrome

January 3, 2024 updated by: Alper Percin, Bahçeşehir University

Effects of Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Post-COVID-19 Syndrome: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The aim of this study is to increase parasympathetic activity and decrease the severity of symptoms by providing vagal stimulation with the t-VNS method in order to suppress the increased sympathetic activity in patients with prolonged Covid symptoms.The main question[s] it aims to answer are:

Question 1:Is left ear transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation effective in suppressing the symptoms of patients in Post Covid syndrome?

Question 2:Is bilateral auricular transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation effective in suppressing the symptoms of patients in Post Covid syndrome?

A 5-minute heart rate variability measurement will be performed to measure the effectiveness of vagus nerve stimulation in participants.HRV is a non-invasive method used to evaluate ANS activity and is a measure of heart rate change over a period of time

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

40

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Turkey
      • Iğdır, Turkey, 76000
        • Iğdır State Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 45 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Being 18 years or older
  • Experiencing at least one of the post-covid symptoms for 12 weeks or longer

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Considering that the female reproductive hormones level in the body and menstrual cycle may affect the ANS in female patients, female participants in perimenopausal, post-menopausal and pregnancy conditions were excluded from the study.
  • Participants who used medication for the treatment of ANS dysfunction in the last six months were also excluded from the study.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Left ear transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation
Left ear transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation will be applied to the participants in this group.A continuous electrical stimulation with a current frequency of 10 Heartz (Hz) with a current transit time of 300 μs was applied to the participants in both groups. The participants included in both groups were treated with taVNS with the "Vagustim" device for 20 minutes once a day and for a total of 10 sessions application was made.
Device: Auricular transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation
Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) was performed with an FDA-approved Vagustim stimulation device and an electrode-shaped earpiece. In the participants included in the study and randomized to two groups, i) left ear taVNS was applied to the first group and ii) double-ear taVNS was applied to the second group.
Experimental: Bilateral double ear transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation
Bilateral double ear transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation will be applied to the participants in this group.A continuous electrical stimulation with a current frequency of 10 Heartz (Hz) with a current transit time of 300 μs was applied to the participants in both groups. The participants included in both groups were treated with taVNS with the "Vagustim" device for 20 minutes once a day and for a total of 10 sessions application was made.
Device: Auricular transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation
Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) was performed with an FDA-approved Vagustim stimulation device and an electrode-shaped earpiece. In the participants included in the study and randomized to two groups, i) left ear taVNS was applied to the first group and ii) double-ear taVNS was applied to the second group.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Heart Rate Variability
Time Frame: After the evaluation of the patients on the first day of participation in the study, the final evaluation was completed at the end of the 10th session (10 days later).
HRV is a non-invasive method used to evaluate ANS activity and is a measure of heart rate change over a period of time. It analyzes the change in the beat-beat intervals of the heart and reflects the balance between PNS and SNS. During the analysis of heart rate variability measurement, the results obtained from sub-parameters such as stress index, time-domain and frequency-domain measurements allow evaluation of PNS and SNS activity.
After the evaluation of the patients on the first day of participation in the study, the final evaluation was completed at the end of the 10th session (10 days later).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Fatigue Severity Scale
Time Frame: After the evaluation of the patients on the first day of participation in the study, the final evaluation was completed at the end of the 10th session (10 days later).
The Fatigue Severity Scale, which is applied in the form of a questionnaire to determine the severity of fatigue accompanied by chronic diseases, consists of a total of 9 questions and according to the results obtained, it gives results as No Fatigue (<2.8 points) and chronic fatigue syndrome (>6.1 points).
After the evaluation of the patients on the first day of participation in the study, the final evaluation was completed at the end of the 10th session (10 days later).

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Bahçeşehir University

Investigators

  • Study Chair: Ramazan Erenler, Prof. Dr., Igdir University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

October 27, 2022

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 1, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

January 4, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 5, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 10, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

January 11, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 5, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 3, 2024

Last Verified

January 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY003

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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