{
  "abstract": "Introduction Perioperative psychological symptoms are prevalent among patients undergoing lung surgery and can contribute to adverse clinical outcomes. Pharmacological interventions for these symptoms have inherent limitations. Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) has emerged as a promising non-invasive therapeutic approach. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of taVNS in managing perioperative psychological symptoms in patients undergoing elective thoracoscopic pneumonectomy under general anaesthesia.Methods and analysis This single-centre, prospective, randomised, double-blind, controlled trial will enrol 176 patients scheduled for elective thoracoscopic lung resection. Participants will be randomly allocated to either the active taVNS or the sham taVNS groups in a 1:1 ratio. Both groups will receive 30 min active or sham stimulation sessions at four time points: (1) the afternoon prior to surgery, (2) the morning of the surgery, (3) following extubation and (4) the first afternoon postsurgery. The primary outcome is the incidence of perioperative anxiety, assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety subscale. Secondary outcomes include depression scores, stress index, sleep quality, pain scores, incidence of postoperative delirium, fatigue, cough symptoms and postoperative recovery quality, all evaluated through validated assessment tools. Analyses will be conducted using intention-to-treat and per-protocol populations.Ethics and dissemination The Ethics Committee of Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University granted approval for the study with approval number: XYFY2024-KL444-01. Dissemination will be via national anaesthesia conferences and publication in the peer-reviewed literature.Trial registration number ChiCTR2400090542.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China",
        "Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China"
      ],
      "name": "Zhengxiu Sun"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China",
        "Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China"
      ],
      "name": "Yuanyuan Wang"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China",
        "Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China",
        "Department of Anesthesiology, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China"
      ],
      "name": "Junda Chen"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China",
        "Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China"
      ],
      "name": "Yongao Lin"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China",
        "Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China"
      ],
      "name": "Tianxi Ma"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China",
        "Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China"
      ],
      "name": "Mingkai Zhou"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China",
        "Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China"
      ],
      "name": "Pinghao Li"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China",
        "Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China"
      ],
      "name": "Jinling Liu"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China",
        "Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China"
      ],
      "name": "Wenxing Zhao"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China",
        "Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China"
      ],
      "name": "Xingyu Xiong"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China",
        "Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China"
      ],
      "name": "Wen Tan"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China",
        "Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China"
      ],
      "name": "Mingshu Tao"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China",
        "Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China"
      ],
      "name": "Jun-Li Cao"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China",
        "Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China",
        "Department of Anesthesiology, Huzhou Central Hospital, Huzhou, Zhajiang, China"
      ],
      "name": "He Liu"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Effect of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on perioperative psychological symptoms in patients undergoing elective thoracoscopic pneumonectomy under general anaesthesia: study protocol for a single-centre, prospective, randomised, double-blind, controlled study",
  "uid": "25b7491c-7005-5d30-87ea-376173caeadc"
}