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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. Sep 22, 2022; 13(5): 128-142
Published online Sep 22, 2022. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v13.i5.128
Electrical neuromodulation therapy for inflammatory bowel disease
Farah Yasmin, Abdul Moiz Sahito, Syeda Lamiya Mir, Govinda Khatri, Somina Shaikh, Ambresha Gul, Syed Adeel Hassan, Thoyaja Koritala, Salim Surani
Farah Yasmin, Abdul Moiz Sahito, Syeda Lamiya Mir, Govinda Khatri, Somina Shaikh, Department of Medicine, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi 74200, Pakistan
Ambresha Gul, Department of Medicine, People’s University of Medical and Health Sciences, Nawabshah 67480, Pakistan
Syed Adeel Hassan, Department of Medicine, University of Louisville, Louiseville, KY 40292, United States
Thoyaja Koritala, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, NY 55902, United States
Salim Surani, Department of Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, United States
Salim Surani, Department of Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55902, United States
Author contributions: Yasmin F contributed to conceptualization, drafting, reviewing, final editing, and agreeing to the accuracy of the work; Sahito AM and Mir SL contributed to conceptualization, drafting, reviewing, final editing, and agreeing to the accuracy of the work; Khatri G, Shaikh S, and Gul A contributed to drafting, editing, and agreeing to the final accuracy of the work; Hassan SA and Koritala T contributed to literature search and review of the manuscript; Surani S contributed to supervision, critical revision of the manuscript, editing, reviewing, and agreeing to the final accuracy of the work.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest to report.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Salim Surani, FACP, FCCP, MD, MSc, Doctor, Professor, Department of Medicine, Texas A&M University, 00 Bizzell St, College Station, TX 77843, United States. srsurani@hotmail.com
Received: October 30, 2021
Peer-review started: October 30, 2021
First decision: December 12, 2021
Revised: February 19, 2022
Accepted: July 18, 2022
Article in press: July 18, 2022
Published online: September 22, 2022
Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. It has financial and quality of life impact on patients. Although there has been a significant advancement in treatments, a considerable number of patients do not respond to it or have severe side effects. Therapeutic approaches such as electrical neuromodulation are being investigated to provide alternate options. Although bioelectric neuromodulation technology has evolved significantly in the last decade, sacral nerve stimulation (SNS) for fecal incontinence remains the only neuromodulation protocol commonly utilized use for GI disease. For IBD treatment, several electrical neuromodulation techniques have been studied, such as vagus NS, SNS, and tibial NS. Several animal and clinical experiments were conducted to study the effectiveness, with encouraging results. The precise underlying mechanisms of action for electrical neuromodulation are unclear, but this modality appears to be promising. Randomized control trials are required to investigate the efficacy of intrinsic processes. In this review, we will discuss the electrical modulation therapy for the IBD and the data pertaining to it.

Keywords: Inflammatory bowel disease, Sacral nerve stimulation, Vagus nerve stimulation, Tibial nerve stimulation, Electrical neuromodulation, Crohn’s disease, Ulcerative colitis, Neuromodulation

Core Tip: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is an inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract with no known available treatment. Electrical neuromodulation is the use of electric stimulation of nerves or brain regions as a therapeutic technique. Electrical neuromodulation therapy has been studied as a possible treatment regimen for IBD. There are several forms of neuromodulation that use various types of nerves, such as sacral nerve stimulation, vagal NS (VNS), and tibial NS. As indicated by many clinical investigations, VNS as a potential therapy for IBD has a lot of promise. More research is needed to assess the possibility of VNS as a viable cure for IBD.