Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Pregnancy

Handan TİLAVERa , Esra ÇALIŞKANb

aBahçeşehir University Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, İstanbul, Türkiye
bİstanbul Medipol University Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing, İstanbul, Türkiye

ABSTRACT
The autonomic nervous system, which regulates the physiology of the body, is an important system consisting of two important main branches, sympathetic and parasympathetic. The vagus nerve is a mixed nerve with parasympathetic effect. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), which refers to the stimulation of the vagus nerve using technique, is used for many purposes. In this section, the use and potential effects of VNS during pregnancy were discussed. VNS has been investigated in the treatment of diseases such as epilepsy, depression and rheumatoid arthritis. It has been reported that the use of VNS during pregnancy is limited, but it has been used for a long time as adjunctive treatment of refractory epilepsy and depression. The importance of the use of transcutaneous auricular VNS to avoid teratogenic effects of antidepressant and antiepileptic drugs during pregnancy has been emphasised in various studies. The literature on the maternal and fetal effects of VNS in pregnancy is limited, but generally no adverse outcomes have been reported. Due to the limited number of studies and conflicting results, more research is needed to evaluate the safety of VNS during pregnancy.
Keywords: Vagus nerve stimulation; pregnancy; parasympathetic nervous system

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