{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T19:46:17Z","timestamp":1782848777592,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782777600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"The Medical Research Fund Project of Guangdong Province","award":["B2024178"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["B2024178"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To evaluate the clinical efficacy of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) combined with repetitive facilitative exercise (RFE) in improving lower limb function in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The research protocol was registered on the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry website (ChiCTR2500106064). Sixty patients with intracerebral hemorrhage were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n\u2009=\u200930) or the control group (n\u2009=\u200930). The experimental group received real taVNS combined with RFE, while the control group received sham taVNS combined with RFE. Before and after 6 weeks of treatment, functional assessments were conducted using the Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Lower Extremities (FMA-LE), the Functional Ambulation Category (FAC) scale, and a three-dimensional gait analysis system to obtain kinematic parameters of the pelvis during the walking cycle.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics showed no significant differences between the two groups (all P\u2009&gt;\u20090.05). After 6 weeks of intervention, both groups exhibited significant improvements in FMA-LE, FAC, stride length, peak hip extension angle, and peak hip joint moments (all P\u2009&lt;\u20090.05). However, the experimental group demonstrated superior outcomes compared to the control group in FMA-LE (t\u2009=\u20093.233, P\u2009=\u20090.002), FAC (t\u2009=\u20092.868, P\u2009=\u20090.006), stride length (t\u2009=\u20093.077, P\u2009=\u20090.003), and peak hip extension angle (t\u2009=\u20092.682, P\u2009=\u20090.010). No significant difference was observed in peak hip joint moments (t\u2009=\u2009\u22120.212, P\u2009=\u20090.833) between the two groups after treatment. No adverse effects or dropouts were reported during the study.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Compared to sham taVNS combined with RFE, taVNS combined with RFE can significantly enhances lower limb motor function in patients with post-stroke hemiplegia following intracerebral hemorrhage.<\/jats:p>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The research protocol has been registered on the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry website (\n                      <jats:ext-link xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\" ext-link-type=\"uri\" xlink:href=\"https:\/\/clinicaltrials.gov\/ct2\/show\/ChiCTR2500106064\" xlink:type=\"simple\">ChiCTR2500106064<\/jats:ext-link>\n                      ).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  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