Efficacy of the Semont maneuver in benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the efficacy of the Semont maneuver in the treatment of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) of the posterior semicircular canal and to evaluate the possible effect of various factors on the efficacy of this maneuver.


METHODS
Retrospective study in an outpatient clinic.


METHODS
Two hundred seventy-eight patients presenting with symptomatic, unilateral BPPV of the posterior semicircular canal, exclusively treated with the Semont maneuver.


METHODS
During the first consultation, each patient was treated with a Semont maneuver. When BPPV persisted, this maneuver was repeated during follow-up visits, performed at weekly intervals.


METHODS
Patients were considered cured when vertigo disappeared within 30 days (allowing up to 4 maneuvers).


RESULTS
More than 90% of patients were cured after a maximum of 4 maneuvers, and 83.5% were cured after only 2 maneuvers. The efficacy of the maneuver decreased each time it was repeated (from 62.6% at the first maneuver to 18.2% at the fourth). The duration of symptoms before initial consultation and the etiology of BPPV had a significant effect on the maneuver's efficacy (P<.001 and P =.002, respectively), whereas age (P =.12), sex (P =.06), and affected side (P =.20) had no effect.


CONCLUSIONS
The Semont maneuver demonstrated a 90.3% cure rate after a maximum of 4 sessions. Patients consulting late (>6 months after the beginning of symptoms) or having traumatic BPPV had lower recovery rates than patients without these factors (74.7% vs 96.5%).
Levrat
Emmanuel
E
Otoneurology Unit, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Clinic, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Switzerland.
van Melle
Guy
G
Monnier
Philippe
P
Maire
Raphaël
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000379:methods*; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014717:Vertigo / Q000628:therapy*