Stroke rehabilitation remains a challenge for decades, but vagus nerve stimulation promises to dramatically improve patient recovery.

Studies using vagal stimulation after stroke have shown promising results, including significantly faster recovery of motor function.

This is what is needed in modern rehabilitation: many stroke survivors suffer from hemiparesis and other movement disorders..

Unfortunately, the old agility and strength extremely rarely return to these people, and the treatment can drag on for years..

Post-stroke physical therapy relies on repetitive exercise to improve the function of weakened muscles. Adding vagal stimulation to such exercises can double the recovery rate of the upper limbs..

Experiments show that stimulation of the vagus nerve can provide neurons with "

“Our theory is that the vagus nerve releases neurotransmitters into the brain that control movement.. If you try to unclench your hand, additional neurotransmitters in your brain will help to strengthen the synaptic connection and perform the action, ”explains the leader of the pilot project Teresa Kimberly, director of the brain recovery laboratory at Massachusetts General Hospital (USA)..

Stroke magazine publishes details of the amazing study.

Neurostimulator helps in rehabilitation.

Phase II clinical trial included 17 patients, each of whom experienced a stroke from 4 months to 5 years ago. All showed movement disorders of the upper limb.

At the beginning of the trial, patients were implanted with a neurostimulator to electrically stimulate the vagus nerve.. He worked for 8, the other 9 worked with the device turned off. Classes lasted six weeks and involved several sessions in the clinic with an instructor.

At the end of these six weeks, they all showed improved function, with no statistically significant difference between groups.. But when the experiment was continued for up to 90 days at home, the patients with the neurostimulator jumped ahead..

During this period, clinically significant improvements were noted in 88% of participants receiving vagal stimulation, and only in 33% of patients in the control group.. While the control group “lost” some of the achievements after training with an instructor, 7 out of 8 patients with an implanted neurostimulator continued to improve their results..

“There are a lot of methods that give tangible results during and after classes, but in the future the results may fade away.. One of the benefits of vagal stimulation in stroke rehabilitation is to reinforce the results of physical therapy, ”says Dr. Kimberly..

In addition, no serious side effects have been found in vagus stimulation trials.. The treatment is considered completely safe if the surgical implantation of the VNS device is without complications..

medbe. ru.