Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation for chronic constipation
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation for chronic constipation
IRAS ID
258607
Contact name
David Jayne
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leeds
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Chronic constipation is a distressing condition which has a prevalence of 10-20% in Western countries. It has a substantial impact on quality of life as well as being a considerable economic burden on healthcare systems. Conservative treatment currently includes laxative therapy, suppositories, and behavioural therapies. When these fail, traditional surgical options include the formation of a colostomy or a major surgical operation.
Sacral nerve stimulation has gained some interest for the treatment of chronic constipation, but the results from clinical studies have been mixed. There is a good argument that vagus nerve stimulation may have a beneficial effect on small bowel and colonic motility due to known communications between the brain and gastrointestinal tract.
This study aims to test the early feasibility of a non-invasive, self-administered, vagus nerve stimulator device (GammaCore) to treat chronic constipation. The study will explore important feasibility and outcomes to inform the direction of future research and to gather patient perspectives.
REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 1
REC reference
19/ES/0084
Date of REC Opinion
2 Aug 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion