Effectiveness of the Epley's maneuver performed in primary care to treat posterior canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

José Luis Ballve Moreno, Ricard Carrillo Muñoz, Iván Villar Balboa, Yolanda Rando Matos, Olga Lucia Arias Agudelo, Asha Vasudeva, Olga Bigas Aguilera, Jesús Almeda Ortega, Alicia Capella Guillén, Clara Johanna Buitrago Olaya, Xavier Monteverde Curto, Estrella Rodero Perez, Carles Rubio Ripollès, Pamela Catalina Sepulveda Palacios, Noemí Moreno Farres, Anabella María Hernández Sánchez, Carlos Martin Cantera, Rafael Azagra Ledesma, José Luis Ballve Moreno, Ricard Carrillo Muñoz, Iván Villar Balboa, Yolanda Rando Matos, Olga Lucia Arias Agudelo, Asha Vasudeva, Olga Bigas Aguilera, Jesús Almeda Ortega, Alicia Capella Guillén, Clara Johanna Buitrago Olaya, Xavier Monteverde Curto, Estrella Rodero Perez, Carles Rubio Ripollès, Pamela Catalina Sepulveda Palacios, Noemí Moreno Farres, Anabella María Hernández Sánchez, Carlos Martin Cantera, Rafael Azagra Ledesma

Abstract

Background: Vertigo is a common medical condition with a broad spectrum of diagnoses which requires an integrated approach to patients through a structured clinical interview and physical examination. The main cause of vertigo in primary care is benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), which should be confirmed by a positive D-H positional test and treated with repositioning maneuvers. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Epley's maneuver performed by general practitioners (GPs) in the treatment of BPPV.

Methods/design: This study is a randomized clinical trial conducted in the primary care setting. The study's scope will include two urban primary care centers which provide care for approximately 49,400 patients. All patients attending these two primary care centers, who are newly diagnosed with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, will be invited to participate in the study and will be randomly assigned either to the treatment group (Epley's maneuver) or to the control group (a sham maneuver). Both groups will receive betahistine. Outcome variables will be: response to the D-H test, patients' report on presence or absence of vertigo during the previous week (dichotomous variable: yes/no), intensity of vertigo symptoms on a Likert-type scale in the previous week, total score on the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) and quantity of betahistine taken.

Discussion: Positive results from our study will highlight that treatment of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo can be performed by trained general practitioners (GPs) and, therefore, its widespread practice may contribute to improve the quality of life of BPPV patients.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01969513.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of the study.

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