Title: Acute facial palsy (Bell's palsy): A new indication for botulinum toxin?
Abstract: Background: Botulinum toxin injections in treatment of complications of facial palsy are already common and routine practice for us. Mimic asymmetry as the main aesthetic complication is often due to the hypertonus of mimic muscles of the healthy side of the face. Goal: We supposed that temporary relaxation of mimic muscles of the healthy side would provide better and more correct activation of paralyzed muscles and prevent the development of later mimic asymmetry of the face. Results: 5 patients with acute facial palsy (2 men, 3 women, aged 30.5 years) underwent pilot treatment with botulinum toxin. In addition to standard medications, mimic muscles of the opposite side were injected on the 2–5 days of facial paralysis with Botox® (average dose: 45 U, in 3 patients) or Dysport® (average dose: 150 U, in 2 patients). Preliminary results show that the rehabilitation period was shorter than usual, activation exercises of weakened muscles were performed more correctly, and mimic asymmetry in 6–9 months was less than usual in this period. Conclusion: The preliminary results of botulinum toxin injections in acute facial palsy are optimistic and need further investigations.
Publication Year: 2008
Publication Date: 2008-06-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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