New non-drug treatment for epilepsy

   Dosing medications to reduce the frequency of epileptic seizures is challenging. Seizures are often accompanied by a short-term loss of consciousness; if a patient falls, they can receive quite severe facial injuries. To avoid them, some patients wear a special helmet for their own protection. As an alternative to pills, the method of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) was invented.

30 percent of children with epilepsy do not have seizures when treated with medications. For some of these children, brain surgery (for epilepsy) is a controversial issue. The goal of implanting a vagus nerve stimulator (VNS) is not only to have a positive effect on the frequency and intensity of seizures, but also on the individual’s quality of life.

   In this procedure, the left vagus nerve is regularly electrically stimulated with thin electrodes. The impulses are transmitted to the brain, where they change the activity of nerve cells. In particular, it has a positive effect on those areas of the brain that are responsible for seizures.

RLS has been approved in Europe since 1994 as an adjuvant treatment for epilepsy in adults and children over 12 years of age. Even in young children, this type of therapy has been confirmed as safe. RLS results in fewer seizures, shorter seizure length, and therefore faster recovery from seizures.

RLS reduces seizure frequency by approximately 50% in 50% of children with an implanted stimulator. However, complete absence of seizures is achieved only in isolated cases.

Installation of a vagus nerve stimulator requires a short operation under general anesthesia. The electrode is placed around the left vagus nerve in the neck and secured. The cable is routed under the skin to a stimulator, which is implanted under the skin of the chest (like a pacemaker).

Often positive side effects include improved mood, increased alertness, and improved memory. The number of side effects is low, such as wheezing, coughing, tingling sensation in the neck, and shortness of breath. Installing a stimulator also allows you to reduce the dosage of medications taken, which reduces the number of side effects from medications.

The price of implantation of a vagus nerve stimulator (VNS) is from 10,000 Euro.
Stay in the clinic — 3 days
Repeated monitoring every 3 days after discharge for 2 weeks
The duration of the operation is 1.5 hours under general anesthesia.
The essence of the operation is the implantation of a stimulator and electrodes under the skin to stimulate the vagus nerve.
Battery life is 8 years. Then a mini operation to replace the battery..

epilepsy