Aims: This study aims to investigate the roles of the number of accelerations and rotation angle in the treatment of posterior semicircular canal benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (PC-BPPV). Methods: We enrolled 344 patients with unilateral PC-BPPV. Of these, 167 patients in the simple-step maneuver (SSM) group were accelerated twice and rotated 120° per step, whereas 177 patients in the multi-step maneuver (MSM) group were accelerated 4 times and rotated 60° per step. Dix-Hallpike (DH) tests were performed to categorize the treatment outcome as follows: ‘symptom free' if the result was negative, ‘symptom persistent' if the result remained positive after performing the maneuver 3 times or ‘canal conversion' if horizontal nystagmus was evoked. Results: Of the patients in the SSM and MSM groups, 78.4 and 91.5% became symptom free, respectively, while canal conversion occurred in 13.8 and 5.1%, respectively (p = 0.003, χ2 test). The success rate after performing the maneuver once was 57.1% in the MSM and 32.3% in the SSM symptom-free patients (p = 0.001, χ2 test). One month after the treatment, 22.0 and 9.6% of the SSM and MSM patients had symptom relapse, respectively (p = 0.007, χ2 test). Conclusions: More accelerations and a smaller rotation angle improved the effectiveness and efficiency of the repositioning maneuvers and reduced canal conversion.

Keywords:
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, Posterior semicircular canal, Repositioning maneuvers, Rotation angle, Number of accelerations, Otolith debris, Dix-Hallpike test
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2015
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