Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) on cognitive function in children with epileptic encephalopathy. Method Fifteen children from October 2016 to August 2018 with epileptic encephalopathy were selected according to inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria. Clinical data of 15 children were collected and followed up for 1-2 years. VNS was followed up for the first time 2 weeks after startup, for the second time 3 months after startup, and once every 3 months thereafter for a total of 1 - 2 years. The follow-up included epileptic seizure and cognitive improvement after VNS treatment. The improvement of cognitive ability before and after treatment was compared and analyzed. Results A total of 15 patients were enrolled in this study, including 7 males and 8 females with an average age of ( 7 . 3 ± 1 . 76 ) years. There were 8 cases of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, 4 cases of Dravet syndrome and 3 cases of Doose syndrome. The duration of epilepsy was 1 - 9 years, with an average of ( 5. 46 ± 2. 19 ) years. After 12 months’ follow-up, the patient's language ability, attention, cognitive ability after treatment were improved significantly (P < 0 . 05 ); in contrast, exercise capacity improvement is not obvious (P > 0 . 05 ). For 12 months after VNS therapy, seizures loss was >50% in ten cases and ≤ 50% in five cases. Language ability, athletic ability, attention, and improvement of their cognitive abilities, showed no difference in these two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion VNS can improve the language ability, attention ability and cognitive ability of children with epileptic encephalopathy.

Key words: vagus nerve stimulation; epileptic encephalopathy; Lennox-Gastaut syndrome; Dravet syndrome; Doose syndrome; epilepsy; child