PROCEDURES

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is a non-pharmacological treatment for drug-resistant depression.

VNS is indicated for the adjunctive long-term treatment of chronic or recurrent depression in patients 18 years of age or older who have had a major depressive episode and have had no response to four or more adequate antidepressant treatment attempts. VNS is not a recommended method if rapid clinical improvement is needed; positive effects of treatment may be seen several months after pacemaker implantation.

According to the latest published studies, the effectiveness of the antidepressant effect of VNS increases over time and is:
• for treatment response (reduction in severity of depressive symptoms by at least half compared to baseline): in 23.9%, 38.9% and 52.6% of study subjects after 6, 12 and 24 months, respectively
• for remission (cessation of depressive symptoms): in 12.1%, 25.1% and 37.7% of study subjects after 6, 12 and 24 months, respectively.

Psychiatric contraindications to VNS are:
• depression with psychotic symptoms
• post-schizophrenic depression
• depression in the course of schizoaffective disorder
• bipolar affective disorder with a history of rapid phase change
• affective disorders in individuals with borderline personality disorder
• acute suicidal thoughts or suicidal behavior
• abuse of alcohol or other psychoactive substances
• co-occurring: delirium, dementia, amnestic syndrome.

VNS can be combined with virtually all existing treatments for affective disorders.

Qualification for the procedure is carried out by a psychiatric specialist and a clinical psychology specialist in an outpatient or 24-hour psychiatric hospitalization, as well as a neurosurgeon.

VNS SenTiva Stimulator:
SenTiva is an implantable and programmable pulse generator for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression. It provides day-night and schedule programming.

CONTACT

Vital Medic

46-200 Kluczbork
Skłodowskiej-Curie st. 21
Poland, opolskie
region

Contact to our patient service:

📱 +48 531 999 172
📱 +48 531 439 671
neuro@vitalmedic.pl
MON-FRI: 7:00 – 22:00

MAIN EMAIL

✉ neuro@vitalmedic.pl

PATIENT COORDINATOR

Paweł Respondek
📞 +48 531 999 172
✉ p.respondek@vitalmedic.pl

PATIENT CARER

Nicoletta Nicowska
📞 +48 531 439 671
✉ n.nicowska@vitalmedic.pl

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PERSONNEL


Zdjęcie Mateusz Pawłowski

Mateusz Pawłowski, MD

specialist in neurosurgery

A graduate of the Faculty of Medicine in Zabrze, Silesian Medical University in Katowice. Participant of doctoral studies at the Medical University of Wroclaw. Doctoral student at the Medical University of Wroclaw.

Specializes in neurooncology, spine and hydrocephalus surgery. He has improved his knowledge and skills during numerous national and international courses.

Witold Libionka, MD PhD

specialist in neurosurgery and neurotraumatology

Connected with neurosurgery since 1998, when he started his scientific activity and then, remaining a scholarship holder of the Ministry of Health, individual studies at the Department of Neurosurgery and Neurotraumatology of the Jagiellonian University Medical College. He continued his education at PhD studies at the Faculty of Medicine CMUJ in Krakow (2002-2006). During his specialisation in neurosurgery at the Department of Neurosurgery and Neurotraumatology of the Medical University of Krakow (2003-2010) he participated in numerous training courses to improve his professional qualifications (including Poland, USA, Germany, France). He completed a one-year research and clinical fellowship in functional and stereotactic neurosurgery at the Department of Neurosurgery, University of Rochester, USA.

Combining his professional and scientific work, he performs dozens of surgeries per month and participates in numerous research projects. He is the author or co-author of nearly a hundred publications and reports. His work on the mechanisms of action of deep brain stimulation has been awarded at national and international conferences and has been published in Nature Medicine and Nature Neuroscience.

He is an international consultant, teacher and lecturer in functional neurosurgery and oncology using functional mapping. He has expert experience in deep brain stimulation, spinal cord and peripheral nerve stimulation, intrathecal pump-assisted baclofen treatment, and resection of glial brain tumors in the eloquent area performed with intraoperative awakening and electrophysiological monitoring of speech, movement, vision, hearing, and tactile functions (more than a thousand such procedures performed in total).


Zdjęcie Anna Włodarczyk

Anna Włodarczyk, Msc

psychologist, psychotherapist
  • psychologist with clinical specialization, sexologist, psychotherapist
  • certified instructor of addiction therapy. Graduate of the Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities
  • member of the Polish Psychological Association.
  • court expert
  • a participant of a specialized training for profilers of missing persons
  • an expert of the Opole Province Headquarters of the State Fire Service in Opole in the area of widely understood psychological support
  • implementer of preventive social campaigns, for which she was awarded the title “Man of the Year 2016 in the plebiscite of NTO”
  • member of TSO, since 2006 closely associated with the State Fire Service as a Regional Rescue Specialist, in the field of psychological support for accident victims and firefighters
  • trainer in the field of teamwork, team building, contact with victims, including the profiles of missing persons, debriefing and defusing
  • handler of two dogs prepared for rescue work (with one she passed the exam of field specialty of class 0 of PSP)
  • Psychologist in Vital Medic Hospital in Kluczbork

Professional interests: since the cooperation with the Vital Medic Hospital, neuropsychology comes to the fore (more on this soon) and associated with the love of dogs activity in the Foundation “Opolsar,” the unit specialized in the search for missing persons using rescue dogs.

Ikona Osoby

Tamara Sokół, MD PhD

specialist in anaesthesiology and intensive care