Difference in the immediate effect on positional nystagmus for head positions with interval time during Epley maneuver: a randomized trial.

Objectives: The Epley maneuver (EM) shows immediate effect, wherein disappearance of positional nystagmus occurs soon after the EM. Our previous study showed that setting interval times during the EM reduced the immediate effect. The purpose of this study is to identify the head position for which interval time reduces the immediate effect.

Methods: Fifty-one patients with posterior canal type of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) were randomly assigned to the following three groups: 10 min interval time set at the first head position of the EM in group A, at the third head position in group B, and at the fourth head position in group C. The primary outcome measure (POＭ) was the ratio of maximum slow-phase eye velocity of positional nystagmus soon after the EM, compared with that measured before the EM. A large ratio value indicates a poor immediate effect of the EM.

Results: The POＭ in group A (0.07) was smallest (B: 0.36, C: 0.49) (p < 0.001).

Discussion: The interval times at the third and fourth head positions reduced the immediate effect of the EM. Our previous study showed that the effect of BPPV fatigue is continued by maintaining the first head position of the EM. BPPV fatigue constitutes fatigability of positional nystagmus with repeated performance of the Dix-Hallpike test. Our findings may be interpreted in accordance with the theory that the immediate effect of the EM is BPPV fatigue itself, because we observed that the effect of BPPV fatigue is strongest in group A.