Tinnitus and neuromodulation

Name of treatment	Neuromodulation (Acoustic CR neuromodulation)
Type of treatment	Physical device
Claims for treatment	Reduce tinnitus symptoms by desynchronization, anti-kindling, and change of abnormal frequency couplings.
How treatment is delivered	In ear sound generation device
Potential negative consequences	Regarded as safe and well tolerated.[1]
Evidence offered:
Papers available	PubMed database has 20 papers with both ‘tinnitus’ and ‘neuromodulation’ in the title. Eight studies were included in a systematic review¹.
Conclusions drawn	The available evidence is insufficient for clinical implementation of acoustic CR neuromodulation. A proof for the claim of desynchronization is still lacking.¹
Quality of evidence[2]	A
Does the BTA recommend this treatment?	No, until more high quality evidence is available
BTA opinion on this treatment:	Independent evidence of effectiveness of neuromodulation for tinnitus management is lacking.
Would the BTA support further studies into this treatment?	Yes, provided study is of high quality.
Verdict: Safety - is this treatment harmful?	Regarded as safe
Verdict: Efficacy - does this treatment work?	No evidence of effectiveness

[1] Wegger M, Ovesen T, Larsen DG. Acoustic Coordinated Reset Neuromodulation: A Systematic Review of a Novel Therapy for Tinnitus. Front Neurol. 2017;8:36. Published 2017 Feb 13. doi:10.3389/fneur.2017.00036

[2] A = Systematic review/meta analysis. B = Randomised control studies. C = Cohort studies. D = Case control studies. E = case studies/reports. +/- to be used to indicate quality within bands

Download this information:

Tinnitus_and_neuromodulation_April_2019.pdf

Published 15 April 2019

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