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Updated: Aug 7, 2026
Implantation Surgery for Abdominal Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Recording Studies in Awake Rats
Published on: January 19, 2024
Vagal nerve stimulator implantation: an otolaryngologist's perspective
Tamer Ghanem1, Stephen V Early
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. tg6t@virginia.edu
Objective:
This study was conducted to compare an otolaryngologist's experience with a cohort of epilepsy patients implanted with a vagal nerve stimulator (VNS) to previously published data.
Methods:
Demographics, preoperative seizure frequency, medications, and complications were retrospectively collected from patients implanted by the senior author. Postoperative medications and seizure frequency were obtained from referring neurologists.
Results:
Seventeen patients were implanted over a 24-month period. Average age was 28.3 years. Patients presented with petit mal (n = 3), tonic-clonic (n = 6), complex partial (n = 5), and grand mal (n = 8) seizures. Mean follow-up postimplantation was 13.5 months. Most patients had at least a 50% reduction of seizure frequency, with 3 patients being seizure free. There were no postoperative infections. One patient had left vocal cord immobility. The most common side effect was voice disturbance during device activation.
Conclusion:
Otolaryngologists are well equipped to perform VNS implantation and to diagnose and treat possible laryngeal side effects.
Ebm Rating:
C-4.
