NCT07330973

Effects of taVNS on Postoperative Pain in Complex Spinal Surgery

Effect of Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Postoperative Pain in Patients Undergoing Complex Spinal Surgery: a Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 98 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) is a non-invasive, novel neuromodulation technique. Previous studies have demonstrated its safety and efficacy in chronic pain, mental disorders, and other diseases, but evidence regarding its use in acute postoperative pain remains limited. This project aims to explore the efficacy and safety of taVNS in managing acute pain after complex spinal surgery. This is a single-center, double-blind, randomized controlled clinical trial, planning to recruit 98 patients scheduled to undergo complex spinal surgery at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the experimental group (taVNS stimulation) or the control group (sham stimulation). The experimental group will receive five stimulation sessions, each lasting one hour, from one day before surgery to three days after surgery. The primary outcome was opioid consumption within 72 hours postoperatively. Secondary outcomes included the maximum, minimum, and mean NRS on postoperative days 1, 2, and 3; NRS before and after each taVNS stimulation; time to first PCIA compression and number of PCA sessions within 3 days postoperatively; Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Quality of Recovery Scale (QoR15) on postoperative day 3; time to first flatus, and first bowel movement; and the incidence of chronic pain, HADS, PSQI, and QoR15 at 3 months postoperatively.

Conditions

• Postoperative Pain
• Postoperative Pain in Orthopaedics
• Postoperative Pain Management

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
DEVICE	transauricular auricular vagus nerve stimulation	Patients will receive five taVNS sessions, with each session lasting 60 minutes.
DEVICE	transauricular auricular vagus nerve stimulation	Patients will receive five sham taVNS sessions, with each session lasting 60 minutes.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-12-24
• Primary completion: 2026-02-28
• Completion: 2026-05-31
• First posted: 2026-01-09
• Last updated: 2026-01-09