DIX-HALLPIKE MANEUVER

Course overview

VERTIGO CAN BE CHALLENGING TO EVALUATE AND TREAT. IT CAN ARISE FROM A SLEW OF VASTLY DIFFERENT PATHOPHYSIOLOGIES, WITH ACUITY RANGING FROM MINIMALLY CONSEQUENTIAL TO CATASTROPHIC. DIFFERENTIATING THE ETIOLOGIES OF VERTIGO, THEREFORE, IS OF INEFFABLE IMPORTANCE. THE DIX-HALLPIKE MANEUVER IS A POWERFUL TOOL IN THE CLINICIAN'S RESOURCES AND EFFORT TO DISTINGUISH ONE OF THE MOST COMMON AND BENIGN PRESENTATIONS, FROM SOME POTENTIALLY DEVASTATING ALTERNATIVE DIAGNOSES THAT CLINICIANS CANNOT MISS. THE MANEUVER, WHEN PROPERLY EMPLOYED, CAN IDENTIFY A COMMON, BENIGN CAUSE OF VERTIGO, WHICH CAN THEN BE TREATED WITH BEDSIDE MANEUVERS, OFTEN PROVIDING INSTANT RELIEF TO PATIENTS. THIS ACTIVITY REVIEWS THE ROLE OF THE DIX HALLPIKE MANEUVER FOR DIAGNOSIS OF VERTIGO.