Can Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation Be an Effective Management for Bilateral Vestibulopathy?

Abstract

Background: Vestibulo-ocular and vestibulospinal reflexes contribute to postural stability and gaze stabilization during head and body movements. Thus, chronic disequilibrium, postural imbalance, and oscillopsia occur after bilateral vestibulopathy (BVP). This disorder reduces the daily physical activity and seriously affects the quality of life. Because of its limiting and hazardous consequences, it is necessary to plan an effective therapeutic and rehabilitative strategy for BVP. Recent attempts have used the beneficial effects of stochastic resonance through noisy galvanic vestibular stimulation (nGVS) for this purpose. The present paper aimed to review the effects of nGVS on balance functions in patients with BVP. Methods: This review article investigated research papers in the field of usefulness of nGVS in the treatment of BVP. In the initial search, a total of 134 articles were found with keywords of this manuscript in the SID, Google Scholar, Science Direct, and PubMed databases, of which 7 articles were considered relevant to our subject. Results: The results of these articles suggest that nGVS can have ameliorating effects on the static and dynamic balance as well as on the vestibular performance in BVP patients. Conclusion: In BVP, nGVS may be useful in designing prosthetics for permanent use by the patient, and/or as a method for enhancing the neuroplasticity in combination with other therapies, such as vestibular rehabilitation.