Now, nerve stimulation method to cure neurological disorders
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 31
For the first time in the region, the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector-32, has started Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) procedure for the treatment of epilepsy, depression and migraine.
According to GMCH authorities, the neuromodulation team, comprising Dr Vipin Gupta, neurosurgeon, and Dr Nishit Sawal, neurologist, has pioneered the VNS stimulation procedures in the north India. The procedure involves the use of a device to stimulate the vagus nerve with electrical impulses.
“This implantable vagus nerve stimulator is FDA-approved to treat epilepsy, depression and migraine when such patients do not respond to medicines,” Dr Gupta.
There is a vagus nerve on each side of the human body, running from the brainstem through the neck to the chest and abdomen.
“The device in the procedure has an electrical lead which is placed on the vagus verve in the neck, and a battery is placed in the chest region just under the skin,” said Dr Gupta.
“It is a day-care surgery and is minimally invasive and thus the repeated electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve alters the neurotransmitter balance of the brain, thereby changing the chemistry of the nervous system to prevent a seizure,” said Dr Nishit Sawal.
The device also has an innovative magnetic wrist band which can be waved over the chest to increase the stimulation if the patient feels that the seizure is imminent.
After performing numerous Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) procedures, the Neuromodulation team has successfully implanted the first Vagal Nerve Simulator in this region, said the hospital authorities.
The hospital has already conducted a surgery on a patient for treating resistant seizures.
Doctors said the patient initially had 2-4 seizures each day and some of them were dropped seizures and after the surgery, the seizure frequency has now been significantly reduced to zero.
The Neuromodulation team strives to make available the very “cutting edge” of technology for the benefit of their patients, said the authorities. Both Dr Nishit Sawal and Dr Vipin Gupta have received their super-speciality training from AIIMS, New Delhi.
AIIMS, New Delhi, has been offering VNS facility to its patients for many years.
