Efficacy of vestibular rehabilitation in vestibular neuritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of vestibular rehabilitation in vestibular neuritis (VN). RCTs was collected from MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, PEDro, LILACS, and Google Scholar before May 2023. This study included 12 RCTs involving 536 patients with VN. Vestibular rehabilitation was comparable to steroids in dizziness handicap inventory (DHI) score at the 1st, 6th, and 12th months (pooled mean differences [MDs]: -4.00, -0.21, and - 0.31, respectively); caloric lateralization at the 3rd, 6th, and 12th months (pooled MD: 1.10, 4.76, and - 0.31, respectively); and abnormal numbers of vestibular-evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) at the 1st, 6th and 12th months. Patients receiving a combination of rehabilitation and steroid exhibited significant improvement in DHI score at the 1st, 3rd, and 12th months (MD: -14.86, pooled MD: -4.63, MD: -9.50, respectively); caloric lateralization at the 1st and 3rd months (pooled MD: -10.28, pooled MD: -8.12, respectively); and numbers of VEMPs at the 1st and 3rd months (risk ratios: 0.66 and 0.60, respectively) than did those receiving steroids alone. Vestibular rehabilitation is recommended for patients with VN. A combination of vestibular rehabilitation and steroids is more effective than steroids alone in the treatment of patients with VN.