US-based ElectroCore has reported a positive outcome from the Event study conducted on non-invasive Gammacore vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) therapy in treating patients with chronic migraine.
Gammacore involves a non-invasive procedure where a hand-held device issues an electrical signal.
A conductive gel is applied on the stimulation surfaces of the device which is then placed on the neck.
The dosage takes about two minutes to be administered.
The initial two months of the comparative phase of the sham-controlled pilot study subjected patients to Gammacore nVNS who were compared to those using a sham device.
Study results have noted a 1.9 decrease in headache per 28 days in three nVNS treated patients.
During the next phase, the occurrence of headache continued to decrease as it was revealed that patients who remained on the nVNS therapy for longer periods experienced an increased drop in headaches.
The therapy is believed to be safe, tolerable and a cost-effective alternative to the currently approved medication for chronic migraine.
Jefferson Headache Center director Jefferson Medical College Professor of neurology and EVENT study lead author Stephen Silberstein said: "In this pilot study we showed that nVNS was able to demonstrate a progressively more meaningful decrease in headache days in those patients who were treated with nVNS for a number of months.
“Our trial suggests that nVNS is a safe and effective alternative to drug therapies.
“I look forward to participating in larger studies in migraine with the gammaCore nVNS therapy to further confirm and expand on these findings."
ElectroCore has initiated two new large studies to evaluate the effect of nVNS in the prevention and treatment of migraine.