Radiotherapy-related neuropathic pain(RRNP) is one of the most distressing complications after radiotherapy for head and neck cancers. The prevalence of neuropathic pain in cancer pain patients is as high as 31-45%.Our previous RCT of pregabalin for RRNP showed that nearly 41.6% of patients still did not achieve 30% pain relief even with standard doses of pregabalin. At the same time, drug side effects such as dizziness and obesity are common, and a dose titration process for at least one week is required.Therefore, new treatments that effectively relieve pain and improve quality of life must be explored.~Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation (TaVNS) works by stimulating the auricular branches of the vagus nerve through electrical impulses. Previous studies have shown it can relieve various pains including migraine, cluster headache, musculoskeletal pain with few adverse events. This study plans to evaluate the efficacy of TaVNS versus sham stimulation for relieving RRNP, and assessed its safety.
This multi-center, randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial aims to investigate the effect and safety of TaVNS in treating radiotherapy-related neuropathic pain.