THE ESSENTIAL
- Osteoarthritis, also called rheumatism, is an aging of the joints linked to their wear and tear.
- It results from hereditary factors and factors related to lifestyle.
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According to a new search, stimulation of the vagus nerve by the transcutaneous atrial way (tVNS) makes it possible to effectively treat the painful and disabling consequences of osteoarthritis of the hands.
Of the 20 patients included in the study, 18 could be analyzed (median age 69 years, 83% women). Initially, the median VAS * of hand pain over the past 48 hours was 60 mm. After 4 weeks of tVNS, the median hand pain on the VAS decreased to 40 mm, a median decrease of -23.5. In addition, the number of painful pressure joints increased from 9.5 at the start of treatment to 8 after 4 weeks. At the same time, an improvement in the function of the hands was also observed. “No severe adverse effects were noted during the month of follow-up”, add the researchers.
So-called erosive osteoarthritis
Among the localizations of osteoarthritis, that of the hands affects the joints of the fingers and represents the 2nd most frequent localization of osteoarthritis (after the knee); with an incidence of 4 to 10% in the general population over 50 years.
In digital osteoarthritis, so-called erosive osteoarthritis is individualized, which is characterized by more pain, more functional discomfort, more inflammation and more joint destruction. “It is for this most severe form of osteoarthritis of the hands that new treatments are expected. Clinical drug trials carried out in recent years have been negative (anti-TNF, hydroxychloroquine, tocilizumab, colchicine, anti-IL1, methotrexate) “, Explain the APICIL foundation.
What is the vagus nerve for?
The vagus nerve, which belongs to the autonomic nervous system, regulates certain functions of the body (blood pressure and digestive motor skills). “Stimulation of the vagus nerve by the transcutaneous atrial (tVNS) route is an original analgesic and anti-inflammatory approach that has given encouraging results in several conditions such as migraines, epilepsies or even depression. Numerous atrial tVNS clinical trials are still underway “, relates Professor Jérémie SELLAM, who works in a rheumatology department (Saint-Antoine hospital, AP-HP – Paris).
He adds : “Our ADEPT study aimed to assess, as part of a pilot trial, the value of transcutaneous atrial VNS in symptomatic erosive digital osteoarthritis (ADE), in the perspective of a randomized controlled trial. was therefore an open trial in which were included patients suffering from symptomatic ADE and refractory to usual treatments “.
* VAS pain: hand pain scale for the last 48 hours.
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