Dr. Bryan R. Payne, and Dr. Robert Tiel, neurosurgeons at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans have discovered a new approach to treating medically intractable hiccups. They implanted a Vagus Nerve Stimulator in a Texas man to stop the hiccups which have severely disrupted Shane Shafer’s life following a stroke he had two years ago. This is the first reported case of its kind. When Dr. Payne activated the implant following the surgery, Shafer’s hiccups stopped, and they have not as yet returned.
