Efficacy of Combining Conventional Vestibular Rehabilitation with Whole Body Vibration and Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation on Balance of Patients with Uncompensated Unilateral Vestibular Neuritis

Background and Aim: Previous studies have demonstrated that uncompensated Unilateral Vestibular Neuritis (UVN) is the most prevalent cause of dizziness. Use of Conventional Vestibular Rehabilitation (CVR) has some limitations. The use of tool-based rehabilitation methods can be more pleasant to these patients and encourage them to complete the rehabilitation course. This study aimed to compare the effects of combining CVR with Whole Body Vibration (WBV) and Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) on balance function in patients with UVN. Methods: In this study, 51 patients with uncompensated UVN aged 30-50 years were randomly divided into three groups of 17, including CVR (group 1), CVR+WBV (group 2), and CVR+WBV+GVS (group 3). The interventions included four weeks of CVR, twenty 5-minute sessions of WBV, and eight 20-minute sessions of GVS. Outcome measures were postural control parameters, Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex (VOR) gain asymmetry, cervical Joint Position Sense Error (JPSE), and Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) score that were assessed before and after interventions. Results: Of 51 patients, 45 completed the study. There was a significant improvement in all measured variables in all groups, where the group 2 and group 3 showed significantly greater improvement than the group 1 in posturography results, cervical JPSE, and DHI score (p<0.05). There was no significant difference among the groups in the VOR gain asymmetry (p>0.05). Conclusion: The CVR, CVR+WBV and CRV+WBV+GVS can improve the balance of UVN patients among which CVR+WBV and CRV+WBV+GVS are more effective. Combining CVR with WBV and GVS leads to additional therapeutic effects in UVN patients.