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Review
. 2021 Jan;11(1):89-96.
doi: 10.2217/pmt-2020-0067. Epub 2020 Oct 28.

Noninvasive vagal nerve stimulation for gastroenterology pain disorders

Andres Gottfried-Blackmore  1 , Aida Habtezion  1 , Linda Nguyen  1
Affiliations
Review

Noninvasive vagal nerve stimulation for gastroenterology pain disorders

Andres Gottfried-Blackmore et al. Pain Manag. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

Abdominal pain continues to be a major challenge and unmet need in clinical practice. Normalization of bidirectional gut-brain signaling has generated much interest as a therapeutic approach to treat chronic abdominal pain. Vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) is emerging as a potential non-pharmacologic strategy for the treatment of abdominal pain. In this review paper, we will summarize the etiologies of chronic pain in gastrointestinal disorders and discuss the rational for VNS as a therapeutic approach to chronic abdominal pain, with particular emphasis in the gammaCore stimulator which allows for noninvasive VNS.

Keywords: central sensitization; gammaCore®; vagal nerve stimulation; visceral hypersensitivity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This article was made possible by an NIH grant: T32 NIDDK, grant/award number: 5T32DK007056-43 and a generous philanthropic gift from Colleen and RD Haas. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Mechanisms underlying pain sensitization in the gut.
DMV: Dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus; DRG: Dorsal root ganglia; NTS: Nucleus tractus solitarius.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. gammaCore noninvasive vagal nerve stimulator.
Copyright electroCore, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with the permission of electroCore.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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