Noninvasive neuromodulation reduces symptoms of restless legs syndrome

Study Objectives: Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a common neurological disorder characterized by an uncontrollable nocturnal urge to move the legs and often associated with chronic sleep disturbances. The most common treatments for RLS are medications that can have debilitating side effects. Here, we evaluated a novel alternative modality of RLS treatment, noninvasive bilateral electrical stimulation of the common peroneal nerve. Methods: To assess the impact of this noninvasive peripheral nerve stimulation (NPNS) approach to RLS symptomatology, we conducted a multisite randomized crossover study comparing NPNS to sham. RLS patients with moderate-to-severe RLS (n = 37) self-administered NPNS and sham nightly for 14 days per treatment in randomized order. Results: NPNS resulted in a reduction in RLS severity of 6.81 points on the International RLS Rating Scale relative to 3.38 for sham (P