Abstract

Introduction: The current pilot study aims to establish the feasibility and benefit of adding Virtual reality based training to conventional vestibular therapy for rehabilitation of patients with vestibular disorders.

Materials and Methods: Patients with chronic vestibular problems, undergoing Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT), were divided into two groups of 5 patients each. Group B received conventional vestibular therapy alone, Group A had a Head mounted Virtual Reality therapy in addition to conventional VRT. The Dizziness handicap Inventory was administered to the patients before, during and after the treatment course to objectively assess benefits.

Results: Group A with VRT and Vestibular Rehabilitation had demonstrably better response to therapy than the group B with Vestibular Rehabilitation alone. No patient complained of discomfort during the VR therapy.

Conclusion: Though the numbers were small and the results not statistically analysable, this pilot study suggests that addition of VRT to vestibular rehabilitation protocols has benefit.

Keywords: Virtual Reality (VR); Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy (VRT); Conventional Rehabilitation

References

1. Rosiak Oskar., “Evaluation of the effectiveness of a Virtual Reality-based exercise program for Unilateral Peripheral Vestibular Deficit”. Journal of Vestibular Research5-6 (2018): 409-415.
2. Pavlou M., et al. “The effect of virtual reality on visual vertigo symptoms in patients with peripheral vestibular dysfunction: A pilot study”. Journal of Vestibular Research5-6 (2012): 273-281.
3. Su-Yi Hsu., et al. “Dimensional, virtual reality vestibular rehabilitation for chronic imbalance problem caused by Ménière’s disease: a pilot study”. Journal of Disability and Rehabilitation16 (2017): 1601-1606.
4. Adriana Pontin Garcia., et al. “Vestibular rehabilitation with virtual reality in Ménière’s disease”. Brazilian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology 3 (2013): 366-374.
5. Mathieu Bergeron., et al. “Use of Virtual Reality Tools for Vestibular Disorders Rehabilitation: A Comprehensive Analysis”. Advances in Medicine (2015).

Citation

Citation: Ravi Nayar., et al. “Virtual Reality (VR) for Vestibular Rehabilitation: A Pilot Study Comparing VR with Conventional Rehabilitation with Conventional Rehabilitation Alone".Acta Scientific Otolaryngology 2.10 (2020): 18-22.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Ravi Nayar., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.