Effects Of Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation With Virtual Reality In Post-Stroke Patients

Summary

Stroke is a neurological condition also known as cerebrovascular accident occurs when blood supply to the brain is disrupted ,either by blockage or rupture of a blood vessels. Upper limb impairment after a stroke denotes diminished function in the arm, hand, wrist, and fingers due to neurological damage. Virtual Reality and Trascutaneous vagus nerve stimulation are innovative for post-stroke upper limb rehabilitation VR enhances motor learning and engagement with exercises and feedback, while VNS boosts neuroplasticity and reduces inflammation via vagus nerve stimulation. The aim of the study is to determine the effects of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation with virtual reality and routine physiotherapy on upper limb motor function, hand dexterity function and quailty of life .

This randomized clinical trial will be conducted at Al Ehsan Welfare,Lahore .The sample size calculated for this trial will be 50 .The patients will be randomly allocated using online randomization tool into 2 groups. Group A will receive Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation with Virtual Reality and Routine physical therapy.Patients will undergo a 60-minute session for four weeks, consisting of 30 minutes of vagus nerve stimulation, 15 minutes of virtual reality training, and 15 minutes of routine physiotherapy for 4 weeks, Group B will receive Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation with Routine physical therapy Patients will undergo a 60-minute session for four weeks, which includes 30 minutes of vagus nerve stimulation and 30 minutes of routine physiotherapy per session for 4 weeks.

Purdue pegboard test will be used to assess dexterity function,Fugl - meyer assesment FMA - UE to assess Motor function of upper extremity, Stroke impact scale to measure Quality of life.The assessment will be conducted by assessor at baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and during a follow-up at 8 weeks after discontinuation of in-clinic therapy.The p value will be set at P= 0.05 to reported any significant difference.Kolmogorov-smirnov test will be used to check the normality of data . For the between group analysis Independent t test will be applied for parametric and Mann Whitney test will be applied for non parametric data. For within group comparison repeated measure ANOVA and Friedman ANOVA will be applied for parametric and non parametric data

Conditions

• Stroke

Interventions

OTHER

transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation+virtual reality+routine physical therapy

Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation Location The left auricular branch vagus nerve will be stimulated by the modified dot -like electrodes will be fitted to the cymba conchae.frequency:Stimulation perform for 30 minutes per day for 4 weeks . duration 600 pulses (intratrain pulse) frequency =20 Hz ; Pulse duration =0.3ms ,lasting 30 seconds each time ,stimulating once every 5 minutes

OTHER

transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation+routine physical therapy

Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation Location The left auricular branch vagus nerve will be stimulated by the modified dot -like electrodes will be fitted to the cymba conchae.Stimulation perform for 30 minutes per day for 4 weeks . Routine physical therapy Stretching Areas :upper chest ,neck flexors ,shoulder flexor and adductors ,elbow and wrist flexors 10 minute per session,and stretches will held for 10s -30swith four repetition of each.30 minutes per day for 4 weeks Upper extremity Proprioception ,coordination,speed and agility increase such as followReach and grasp Handle turning simulated eating task Inserting object Opening bottle strenghtening exercise Muscles biceps brachii brachialis Coracobrachialis triceps brachii wrist extensors 10 minute per session for 4 weeks

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Riphah International University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Muhammad Kashif, PhD-PT · Riphah International University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

30 Years

Max Age

50 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-10-05

Primary Completion

2025-07-30

Completion

2025-07-30