Vestibular rehabilitation with electrotactile vestibular substitution: early effects.

Abstract

We aimed to determine the early efficacy of vestibular rehabilitation with electrotactile vestibular substitution system (EVSS) as a new treatment modality in patients with bilateral vestibular loss due to aminoglycoside-induced ototoxicity. Six men and four women with bilateral vestibular failure were rehabilitated with EVSS prospectively. Patients were trained with EVSS for ten sessions each lasted 20 min, two sessions per day. Sensory organization test (SOT) protocol and dizziness handicap inventory (DHI) were used to compare pre- and post-training results of the rehabilitative treatment. Post-training tests were done at the first day of post-treatment period. All ten patients in the standardized testing subset demonstrated improved scores in the composite SOT scores and in the functional transfer testing with DHI after 5 days of training with the EVSS. In conclusion, these preliminary results demonstrate efficacy of the EVSS in improving patients symptoms and signs and signify the evidence of sensory substitution in the early post-training period.

• Authors: Alev Uneri, Senol Polat
• Journal: European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery (Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol) Vol. 266 Issue 8 Pg. 1199-203 (Aug 2009) ISSN: 1434-4726 [Electronic] Germany
• PMID: 19082618 (Publication Type: Comparative Study, Journal Article, Multicenter Study)

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Electric Stimulation Therapy (instrumentation)
• Equipment Design
• Female
• Follow-Up Studies
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Pilot Projects
• Postural Balance (physiology)
• Prospective Studies
• Time Factors
• Treatment Outcome
• Vestibular Diseases (physiopathology, rehabilitation)
• Vestibular Function Tests
• Vestibule, Labyrinth (physiopathology)