Vestibular rehabilitation in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: Reality or fiction?

The objective of this article is to systematically review the evidence on the effectiveness of vestibular rehabilitation (VR) in patients with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). Relevant published studies about VR in BPPV were searched in PubMed, Google Scholar and Ovid using various keywords. We included trials that were available in the English language and did not apply publication year or publication status restrictions. Studies based on the VR in other peripheral and/or central balance disorders are excluded. Primary outcome was the effect on vertigo attacks and balance. Of 42 identified trials, only 12 trials fulfilled our inclusion criteria and were included in this review. Three of them investigated the role of VR in patients with BPPV comparing with no treatment, two of them evaluated the efficacy of VR versus medications, seven of them have highlighted the benefits of the VR alone or in combination with canalith repositioning procedure (CRP) compared to CRP alone. The studies differed in type of intervention, type of outcome and follow-up time. VR improves balance control, promoting visual stabilization with head movements, improving vestibular-visual interaction during head movement and expanding static and dynamic posture stability. CRP and VR seem to have a synergic effect in patients with BPPV, especially in elderly patients. VR does not reduce the recurrence rate, but it seems to reduce the unpleasantness. So VR can substitute CRP when spine comorbidities contraindicate CRP and can reduce the uptake of anti-vertigo drugs post CRP. Further studies are needed to confirm these encouraging results.