Introduction: Vestibular neuritis (VN) is a clinical condition characterized by the sudden loss of vestibular activity. This loss is caused by inflammation of the vestibular nerve and it does not cause any cochlear symptoms (deafness/tinnitus). The diagnosis can be difficult due to the several differential diagnostic possibilities for giddiness, such as use of some drugs, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, Ménière disease, cerebellar infarction, schwannoma vestibular, generalized anxiety disorder and other conditions.

Objectives: Discuss a simple clinical approach for general physicians/family doctors to diagnose vestibular neuritis, based on the literature findings.

Data Synthesis: the etiology of VN is believed to be a viral infection. It was hypothesized to be associated with upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) and the most common viruses were influenza, Epstein-Bar, parainfluenza, herpes simplex, cytomegalovirus and others. The vertigo is sudden, rotatory and worsen with any head movement. Nausea, vomiting, pale skin and cold sweating showed to be frequent. Visual symptoms, nystagmus, illusion of movement, postural problems must be investigated because of the close relation to VN.

Conclusion: The diagnosis of VN is essentially clinical and if the physician does not suspect it, it may lead to expensive costs of complementary exams (from a simple Blood count to a nuclear magnetic resonance). A detailed anamnesis seeking for recent URTI symptoms with physical evaluation focusing on neurologic and otorhinolaryngologic semiology should be done. The physician must discard other possible diseases and start the treatment; if the symptoms vanish, the diagnosis is confirmed.