Highlights
- •Transcutaneous occipital nerve stimulation (tONS) was well tolerated and effective.
- •tONS at 100 Hz reduced headache days and headache duration more effectively.
- •tONS was a promising approach for patients who preferred nonpharmacological therapy.
- •This was the first study on the effect of tONS with different frequencies in China.
Abstract
This study's objective was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of transcutaneous
occipital nerve stimulation (tONS) in patients with migraine, and to explore whether
different tONS frequencies influenced treatment effectiveness. This was a randomized,
controlled trial of tONS for prevention of migraine. Patients were randomized to 1
of 5 therapeutic groups before treatment for 1 month. Groups A through C received
tONS at different frequencies (2 Hz, 100 Hz, and 2/100 Hz), group D underwent sham
tONS intervention, and group E received topiramate orally. The primary outcomes were
the 50% responder rate and headache characteristics. A total of 110 patients completed
the study. The 50% responder rate was significantly greater in the groups undergoing
active tONS and topiramate, compared with sham-treated group. A significant reduction
in headache intensity was noted in each test group compared with the sham group; the
groups undergoing tONS at different frequencies did not differ significantly. From
baseline to the 1-month treatment period, the tONS group with 100 Hz and topiramate
group exhibited significant decreases in headache duration. We conclude that tONS
therapy is a new promising approach for migraine prevention. It has infrequent and
mild adverse events and may be effective among patients who prefer nonpharmacological
treatment.
Perspective
This article introduces a randomized, controlled trial to illustrate tONS as a new
approach for prevention of migraine. It shows tONS is well tolerated and could be
considered as a promising treatment for patients who prefer to nonpharmacological
therapy.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 18, 2017
Accepted:
March 27,
2017
Received in revised form:
March 10,
2017
Received:
December 9,
2016
Footnotes
Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR-ONC-16008130); Registered March 22, 2016.
This work was supported by the National Scientific Research Fund (grant number 81471147).
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 by the American Pain Society
