The Effect of Postural Restrictions in the Treatment of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo / 대한이비인후과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The treatment of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) consist of repositioning maneuver in order to remove otolithic debris, and subsequent postural restrictions to prevent debris from reentering into the canal. But, it is doubtful how much postural restrictions could have an effect on the final outcomes of BPPV. The purpose of this study is to find out the effect of postural restrictions when imposed on as one of the treatment methods of BPPV, out-broken due to otolithic debris in the posterior semicircular canal, and to find out the necessity of postural restrictions. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Seventy cases diagnosed as BPPV of the posterior semicircular canal were studied. All the patients were treated by modified Epley Maneuver. They were divided into two groups. The first group (group A, 35 patients) was instructed to sleep in a semi-sitting position and not to move their heads forward or backward, whereas the second group (group B, 35 patients) was not taught to do any specific thing. The gathered information from all the patients was analyzed by age of onset, gender, duration of the disease, and cure rates or recurrence rates. RESULTS: In group A, the average age was 54.5 years and mean duration of symptoms was 116.5 days. On the other hands, in the group B, the average age and the mean duration was 54.8 years and 86.7 days, respectively. The cure rates of the group A and B were 91.4% and 94.3%, respectively. The recurrence rates were 12.5% and 9.1% for group A and group B patients, respectively. No statistically significant difference was found between two groups regarding patient age, duration of symptoms, and cure rates or recurrence rates. CONCLUSION: From the analysis of this study, it can be said that postural restrictions imposed after the repositioning maneuver do not have a significant effect on the final outcomes of BPPV, so they are not recommendable.