Real-World Data Highlight a New Approach to Chronic Constipation, With Darren Brenner, MD

Chronic idiopathic constipation (CIC) remains one of the most challenging and heterogenous disorders encountered in GI practice. While clinicians today have a wide therapeutic armamentarium, including osmotic and stimulant laxatives, secretagogues, and prokinetic agents, each option carries limitations and side effects that impede adherence and patient satisfaction.

Against this backdrop, the vibrating capsule (Vibrant System) represents a novel, device-based therapeutic approach designed to enhance colonic motility without pharmacologic action. New real-world evidence published adds meaningful long-term data showing patients using the device for 3 and 6 months experienced improvements across multiple clinically relevant endpoints, including increased complete spontaneous bowel movements, reduced straining, and greater frequency of complete evacuation.

“Vibrant has a couple of different benefits. Number one, we know that it works,” Darren Brenner, MD, a professor of medicine and surgery in the division of gastroenterology at Northwestern University and serves as director of the Neurogastromotility and Interdisciplinary Bowel Dysfunction programs, told HCPLive. “We now have multiple data points showing that this can be effective, from the phase 3 trials that show that it could significantly improve one to two complete spontaneous bowel moments a week in patients to now our data showing that 3 to 6 months later, people are doing very well for multiple endpoints.”

The postmarketing analysis included 491 and 298 patients who completed 3 and 6 months of treatment, respectively. Significant improvements in the average number of CSBMs/week were observed for these patients from baseline (3 months: 2.37; 6 months 2.51; average across entire treatment duration; P >.0001). Mean stool consistency also improved from 3.4 at baseline to 4.1 during treatment (average across entire treatment duration; P <.0001), as did straining effort, which decreased from a mean score of 2.9 at baseline to 1.6 during treatment (average across entire treatment duration; P <.0001).

Of note, abdominal pain, bloating, and nausea were each reported by <2% and diarrhea by <1% of the patient population.

“For my patients, when I discuss different therapeutic options, from their perspective, that's a real selling point, the lack of diarrhea and that concern about the urgency associated with having to go to the bathroom,” Brenner said.

The vibrating capsule system includes a downloadable electronic stool diary app for patient use, and each patient is encouraged to record their daily bowel patterns in this e-diary. The system also includes a pod that registers and activates each of the capsules before its ingestion, thereby providing a record of the patient's adherence to therapy.

“This app based program keeps people astute to the fact that they're using a therapy which may increase compliance,” Brenner said. “I've always told my patients, if you don't take the medication or the therapeutic, it's not going to do anything. Nothing is going to change… so this is kind of a reminder. People get a sense that this is working. When they’re looking through their data, they really see a benefit compared to where they were before.”

References

1. Vibrant. New Real-World Evidence Study Demonstrates Vibrant System’s Continuous Effectiveness and Exceptional Tolerability for Chronic Idiopathic Constipation. November 6, 2025. Accessed December 12, 2025. https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/11/06/3182653/0/en/New-Real-World-Evidence-Study-Demonstrates-Vibrant-System-s-Continuous-Effectiveness-and-Exceptional-Tolerability-for-Chronic-Idiopathic-Constipation.html

2. Brenner DM, Rao SSC, Curtin B, Quigley E. Real-World Evidence of the Long-Term Clinical Utility of a Vibrating Capsule in the Management of Chronic Idiopathic Constipation. Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology. doi:10.14309/ctg.0000000000000918