Vagus Nerve Stimulation as Treatment for Long Covid
Purpose
Many patients do not recover following Covid infection. The resulting illness is called Long Covid. Because there is no agreed upon treatment for this ailment, the research team has decided to do an open label pilot study using non-invasive, transcutaneous stimulation of the auricular branch of the vagus nerve. Inclusion criteria required the patient to fulfill criteria for having chronic fatigue syndrome. To date, fourteen patients provided evaluable data. Eight of these fulfilled the study's requirements for treatment success.
Conditions
- Long COVID
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Eligibility
- Eligible Ages
- Under 70 Years
- Eligible Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria
- Patients had to have had COVID - Patients have to fulfill the 1994 case definition for chronic fatigue syndrome.
Exclusion Criteria
- BMI > 30
Study Design
- Phase
- N/A
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- N/A
- Intervention Model
- Single Group Assignment
- Intervention Model Description
- Application of electrode to left tragus with stimulus intensity at that which is just below pain threshold for 35 min a day for 6 weeks
- Primary Purpose
- Treatment
- Masking
- None (Open Label)
Arm Groups
| Arm | Description | Assigned Intervention |
|---|---|---|
|
Experimental Transcutaneous Non-Invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation |
Application of electrode to left tragus with stimulus intensity at that which is just below pain threshold for 35 min a day |
|
Recruiting Locations
More Details
- NCT ID
- NCT05608629
- Status
- Completed
- Sponsor
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Detailed Description
Patients who have had COVID and who fulfill criteria for chronic fatigue syndrome will sign IC and be mailed a parasym device with instructions its use after completing entry baseline questionnaires. Subjects will be called two, four and six weeks after beginning participation [application of electrode to left tragus with stimulus intensity at that which is just below pain threshold for 35 min a day] to ask about adverse events. At the end of 6 weeks, patients will complete these questionnaires again plus one assessing their assessment of treatment efficacy.