Postural stability in patients with decompression sickness evaluated by means of Quantitative Romberg testing.

OBJECTIVE

The present study was designed to retrospectively evaluate the use of quantitative Romberg's testing on postural stability during the course of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO2) therapy in patients presenting with decompression sickness (DCS).

METHODS

The Quantitative Romberg test was used to evaluate postural stability in 33 patients with DCS treated between May 2009 and August 2014. Postural stability was assessed before and after each session of HBO2 therapy. Patients were allocated into groups according to whether they presented with vertigo or not.

RESULTS

Significantly higher sway values obtained with the Quantitative Romberg test were observed in the group of DCS with vertigo relative to DCS without vertigo and healthy controls. A stepwise improvement in postural instability for DCS patients with vertigo was found following HBO2 therapy. After three treatments of HBO2, postural stability was found to be within the normal range of healthy controls.

CONCLUSIONS

The Quantitative Romberg test offers the the clinician a fast, reliable and objective set of parametrical data to document postural instability in patients with either confirmed or suspected DCS.