REVIEW article
Front. Med.
Sec. Intensive Care Medicine and Anesthesiology
Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation as an Innovative Approach for Managing Perioperative Gastrointestinal Dysfunction: A Narrative Review
Provisionally accepted
Ling Zhang
Qin Zhang
Feng Xue YinYa CaoYe ChenHua Zhong LiYu Shen
Keyu FanXia Ming LiuLu QianFeng Yun WangChun Chong DaiJuan Yan RenQiu Jing Wei*
He Liu*- Department of Anesthesiology, Huzhou Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine & Huzhou Central Hospital, Huzhou, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Postoperative gastrointestinal dysfunction (POGD) is a prevalent and clinically significant complication following surgical procedures. It adversely impacts patient comfort, prolongs postoperative hospitalization duration, and increases the risk of perioperative complications and unplanned readmissions, thereby contributing to higher healthcare costs. Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) has emerged as a promising neuromodulatory intervention. As a non-invasive technique, it offers several advantages, including ease of administration, a favorable safety profile, and high patient acceptability. This narrative review outlines the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying POGD, the anatomical basis of the vagus nerve, the technical parameters of taVNS, and its therapeutic mechanisms in managing postoperative gastrointestinal disturbances. The objective is to support the development of a comprehensive treatment approach for patients with POGD, promoting accelerated recovery.
Keywords: Postoperative gastrointestinal dysfunction, Postoperative ileus, Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation, Vagus Nerve, Pathophysiological mechanism
Received: 15 Oct 2025; Accepted: 17 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Zhang, Yin, Cao, Chen, Li, Shen, Fan, Liu, Qian, Wang, Dai, Ren, Wei and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Qiu Jing Wei, 649391613@qq.com
He Liu, lh121061@163.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.