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The Effect of Transcutaneous Auricular Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation on Migraine: A Randomized Sham-Controlled, Double-Blind Study

ClinicalTrials.gov · COMPLETED, 2026

102 participants

Abstract

This randomized, sham-controlled, and assessor and participants-blind clinical study aims to investigate the effects of transcutaneous auricular trigeminal nerve stimulation (taTNS) on intensity of headache, sleep quality, level of disability, and Heart rate variability (HRV) in patients with migraine.

The inclusion criteria were: (1) being aged 18-45 years, (2) being literate in Turkish, (3) having been diagnosed with episodic migraine without aura by a neurologist according to the International Classification of Headache Disorders, (4) having a history of migraine for at least 6 months with at least 2 attacks per month in the last 3 months. The exclusion criteria were: (1) being pregnant or breastfeeding; (2) regular use of analgesics or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for more than 15 days per month; (3) pacemaker implantation; (4) a history of addiction, syncope or abnormal ECG findings; (5) a history of intracranial haemorrhage or significant head trauma; (6) a diagnosis of epilepsy, severe anxiety or depression; (7) other types of headaches, including paresthesia or medication-overuse headaches; and (8) cognitive, visual, or auditory problems that would prevent participation in the study.

The TaTNS was applied to the intervention and control (sham) groups by a physiotherapist (AP). The treatment session lasted 20 minutes and will apply three days a week for 12 weeks.

The physical (age, gender, height, body weight), sociodemographic (marital status, education…

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 102 participants or records.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

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