The Expanding Role of Vagus Nerve Stimulation, with Kevin Tracey, MD

In an interview with The Educated Patient, Kevin Tracey, MD, president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health, discussed how vagus nerve stimulation (VNS)—a treatment that stimulates the vagus nerve with electrical impulses—can decrease the inflammation associated with a variety of chronic diseases.

The side effects of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) are well-known and have been studied extensively over the 30-to-40-year history of VNS’s clinical use. While surgical risks such as infection or nerve damage exist, they are minimal. Notably, Tracey said, VNS doesn’t carry the severe warnings that many other treatments do, such as black box warnings, and it doesn’t require frequent injections or cause immunosuppression.

When considering VNS, he explained it is important to compare the potential side effects of VNS with those of other available therapies as well as consider the risks of not treating the disease.

More than a quarter of a million people have had VNS implants for conditions like epilepsy and depression. In those cases, devices typically deliver electrical current in five-minute intervals around the clock. The new generation of VNS devices, expected to be available soon, will deliver even smaller amounts of electrical current—just a few minutes a day—which should further reduce side effects.

For patients interested in VNS, Tracey recommends keeping an eye on announcements from clinicaltrials.gov, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and other medical news sources. Recently, SetPoint Medical, a company co-founded by Tracey, reported that their VNS treatment for rheumatoid arthritis successfully met its primary endpoint in a clinical trial. These results are promising and may even lead to seeking FDA approval for commercial use of the device. However, he added, only time will tell how this unfolds.

Tracey emphasized there are many people working tirelessly to develop these therapies, driven by the hope that they will provide new treatment options for patients who are dissatisfied with their current therapies. He hopes that we will soon reach a point where these therapies can help treat a variety of conditions, providing the relief and improvement in quality of life that so many are seeking.

Disclosures: Tracey is the co-founder of SetPoint Medical.