Effectiveness of the Canal Repositioning Procedure in Treating Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo Associated with Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Background: Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV) is thought to be one of the most frequently occurring but undiagnosed causes of dizziness and imbalance as a result of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI). Though the Canal Repositioning Procedure (CRP) is a very effective for idiopathic BPPV, there are varied results on the effectiveness of the same on post-traumatic BPPV in the Indian population. The aim is to compare the efficacy of the Canal Repositioning Procedure in the management of the posterior canal BPPV related to mild traumatic brain injury. Material and Methods: It was a descriptive observational study involving patients with mTBI aged 18 to 70 years who presented to the survey within 48 hours to 7 days after the injury. Day 3 would have been ideal, but Day 7 was the latest date on which the screening with the Dix-Hallpike Test was performed. CRP (Epley maneuver) was performed on all patients diagnosed with posterior canal BPPV. At 2, 4, and 6 weeks, follow-ups were conducted to evaluate symptom resolution. Results: 19% of patients with mTBI were reported to have PCBPPV. CRP resulted in symptom resolution of 73.6%, 89.4%, and 100% at 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 6 weeks, respectively. Conclusion: CRP is safe, easy, and highly effective for treating BPPV following mTBI. Post-traumatic morbidity can be greatly minimized by routine screening and timely CRP. Keywords: Head Injury, Vertigo, Dix-Hallpike Test, Epley Maneuver.