Repository logo
 
No Thumbnail Available
Publication

Are corticosteroids useful in all degrees of severity and rapid recovery of Bell’s palsy?

Use this identifier to reference this record.
Name:Description:Size:Format: 
ART_PaulaSantos_2016.pdf523.81 KBAdobe PDF Download

Advisor(s)

Abstract(s)

The results provide preliminary evidence that corticosteroids were not effective in all grades of dysfunction and for achieving a rapid remission in the early phase of BP, highlighting the need to define standard and rigorous criteria to prescribe corticosteroids in these patients. The main aim of this study was to investigate whether the use of corticosteroids better associated than paralleled with neuromuscular training (C + FNT) is more effective than facial neuromuscular training (FNT) applied alone, in terms of recovery degree and facial symmetry during the early phase of Bell's palsy (BP). A prospective single-blinded study involved 73 patients: the C + FNT group (n = 42; median age = 37.5 years) and FNT group (n = 31; median age = 49.0 years). Patients were assessed before and 6 weeks after treatment by House-Brackmann (HB-FGS) and Sunnybrook Facial Grading System (SB-FGS). Results Recovery degree and facial symmetry improved significantly in both groups (p < 0.001), without differences between groups (p > 0.05). However, the C + FNT group displayed better outcomes for cheek (p = 0.004) and mouth (p = 0.022) resting symmetry at SB-FGS, instead of compared to the FNT group. The corticosteroids had no significant effect on all recovery degrees (p = 0.992) and rapid remission (p = 0.952). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the type of intervention was not a significant predictor for recovery degree (p = 0.917).

Description

Keywords

Facial palsymedical therapy; Medical therapy Muscular training Sunnybrook Facial Grading System House-Brackmann Facial Grading System

Citation

Research Projects

Organizational Units

Journal Issue

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

CC License

Altmetrics