Clinical Application of Galvanic Vestibular-Evoked Myogenic Potentials in Audiovestibular Disorders—A Systemic Review

Importance Galvanic vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (gVEMP) elicited by galvanic stimuli to assess the audiovestibular disorders has garnered less attention. Objective This systematic review aims to explore the clinical application of the gVEMP test in audiovestibular disorders, with the potential for widespread promotion in the future. Design This review was developed from peer-reviewed articles published in those journals listed on Journal Citation Reports. Setting University hospital. Participants Articles were collected from the PubMed database of the US National Library of Medicine, Scopus, Embase, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library. Intervention Results of vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (VEMP) elicited by either acoustic, vibratory, or galvanic mode were compared. Main Outcome Measures Based on the guidelines (PRISMA 2020 statement) for reporting reviews. Results Initially, 1076 articles were retrieved from 1994 to 2023. Following the exclusion of duplicate reports, unrelated articles, non-SCI journals, and papers covering a similar topic published in a later period, 43 relevant papers were ultimately selected. Conclusions and Relevance The ocular and cervical VEMP testing using galvanic stimuli should be accompanied by testing with acoustic or vibratory stimuli to precisely delineate the affected receptors and/or afferents in audiovestibular disorders. Clinical application of the gVEMP test in audiovestibular disorders includes: (1) Evaluating the involvement of vestibular afferents; (2) Assessing the residual function of the vestibular system; and (3) Predicting the outcome of audiovestibular disorders.