As Leslie Rough can tell you, an inflammatory illness like rheumatoid arthritis can be unpredictable and make daily living challenging. Medications to treat it may give relief, but not all rheumatoid arthritis drugs work for everyone, and when they do, the effects may wane over time.
Rough has navigated the challenges of rheumatoid arthritis including chronic joint pain, swelling, tenderness, and stiffness for some years but has finally found relief.
She received a vagal nerve stimulator, an implanted device, in January to manage joint pain and swelling. Shortly after it was turned on, she felt relief from her symptoms.
“I definitely noticed that yesterday and now, today, I’m feeling better,” Rough said. “The last thing I want to do is take another medication. This offered the opportunity to manage my pain without having to take another one.”
The device is the size of a multivitamin and is surgically implanted in the neck, where it sits in a pod wrapped around the vagus nerve. It delivers electrical stimulation for one minute each day to help the nervous system communicate with the body’s immune system.
The vagus nerve originates in the brain and reaches nearly every organ in the body. It has been found to influence the immune system through neurotransmitters that help regulate inflammation and immune responses.
“For the first time, there’s a therapy surgeons can provide to patients," said Rush neurosurgeon R. Webster Crowley, MD. “Primary management for these patients has been by drugs, either injectable or oral. But now there is a surgical option, and it is really exciting for us at Rush to be one of the first in the country to implement this treatment.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 1.5 million adults are living with rheumatoid arthritis.
“Some medications aren’t tolerated well, and quite a few patients have issues with infection because of the immunosuppression,” Crowley said. “This is a novel treatment option that resets the immune system and modulates inflammation.”
Over the years, Rough has used various medications to treat her RA, which made her susceptible to infection. Now she uses the new, implanted technology, which has an external battery charger that the she wraps around her neck.
“I wear a necklace to charge it once a week, and it beeps when it’s fully charged,” Rough said. “It’s very easy to use.”
To qualify for the new surgical therapy option, called SetPoint Therapy, a rheumatologist will first do an evaluation to determine whether this is an appropriate therapy. Contact your rheumatologist to see if the vagal nerve stimulator is an option for you.
