Open AccessSaudi Arabian Consensus Statement on Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Refractory Epilepsy
Author(s) -
Khalid Alqadi,
Hesham Aldhalaan,
Abdulaziz Alghamdi,
Fawzia Bamgadam,
Amal Abu-jabber,
Saleh Baeesa,
Ibrahim Althubaiti,
Salah Baz
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
saudi journal of medicine and medical sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.125
H-Index - 2
eISSN - 1658-631X
pISSN - 2321-4856
DOI - 10.4103/sjmms.sjmms_578_19
Subject(s) - vagus nerve stimulation , medicine , epilepsy , epilepsy surgery , drug resistant epilepsy , perioperative , medline , cochrane library , national library , vagus nerve , psychiatry , surgery , stimulation , randomized controlled trial , library science , political science , computer science , law
Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is an approved adjunctive therapy for refractory epilepsy and used in patients who are not candidates for resective epilepsy surgery. In Saudi Arabia, VNS device implantation is being performed since 2008 by several comprehensive epilepsy programs, but with variable protocols. Therefore, to standardize the use of VNS, a task force was established to create a national consensus. This group consisted of epileptologists, epilepsy surgeons and a VNS nurse coordinator working in comprehensive epilepsy centers and dealing with refractory epilepsy cases. The group intensively reviewed the literature using Medline, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Library, in addition to physician's manual. Evidence is reported as three stages: preimplantation and patient selection, a perioperative phase involving all stakeholders and post-operative care with specific programming pathways.