Is a Mechanical Rotational Chair Superior to Manual Treatment Maneuvers on an Examination Bed in the Treatment of Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo?

OBJECTIVE

To compare the efficacy of the TRV-chair, a mechanical rotational chair, against manual treatment maneuvers in the treatment of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV).

STUDY DESIGN

Prospective open-label block-randomized controlled clinical trial.

SETTING

Tertiary referral center.

SUBJECTS

Seventy-four patients referred from primary care and subsequently diagnosed with BPPV.

INTERVENTIONS

Patients were randomized to diagnostics and treatment with either manual treatment maneuvers on an examination table or using the TRV-chair.

MAIN OUTCOMES

The primary outcome was treatment efficacy, defined as absence of positional nystagmus (with or without concomitant vertigo), following one treatment. Secondary outcomes were number of treatments necessary for treatment success and Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) scores.

RESULTS

61.1% of the subjects in the TRV-group and 63.2% in the manual treatment group were treated successfully (p = 0.856). The differences in the number of treatments necessary to achieve treatment success as well as pre- and post-treatment DHI-scores between the TRV-group and the manual treatment group were nonsignificant.

CONCLUSIONS

Traditional manual treatment maneuvers and treatment maneuvers performed with the TRV-chair are equally good at treating BPPV in patients referred directly from primary care.