electroCore Announces Publication of Study on Non-Invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation (nVNS) to Reduce Ileus After Major Colorectal Surgery

ROCKAWAY, N.J., Feb. 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- electroCore, Inc. (Nasdaq: ECOR), a commercial-stage bioelectronic medicine company, today announced the publication of a peer reviewed paper, entitled: “Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation to reduce ileus after major colorectal surgery: Early development study” in the journal Colorectal Disease. The paper reports on the results of a parallel group, randomized controlled trial conducted at St. James’s University Hospital in Leeds, England. The study was funded by the Bowel Research UK supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Surgical MedTech Co-operative.

The study enrolled forty subjects and was undertaken to explore the safety and feasibility of self-administered non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) to treat ileus after major colorectal surgery. Ileus occurs in 10-20% of patients who have undergone elective colorectal surgery. Ileus is a distressing condition characterized by abdominal distension, persistent vomiting, and delayed faecal elimination after surgery. For patients, it prolongs the length of hospital stays and increases the risk of serious complications such as pneumonia and venous thrombo-embolic events. For healthcare systems, ileus increases per patient costs by up to 71%, particularly those associated with nursing care, laboratory investigations, and medications.¹

In pre-clinical models of ileus, electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve has been shown to reduce intestinal inflammation and accelerate the recovery of bowel function. This is thought to be mediated by the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway in the gut.² Historically, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) required a costly and highly invasive surgical procedure to permanently implant an expensive medical device with attendant risks of neurovascular injury. nVNS mitigates these risks since stimulation can be achieved over the cervical spine region without implantation. The company’s gammaCore therapy uses a handheld device enabled by a proprietary high-frequency burst waveform that safely and comfortably passes through the skin and stimulates therapeutically relevant fibers in the vagus nerve.