EFFICACY OF INTRATYMPANIC STEROID INJECTION IN BELL'S PALSY
1Rize Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Kulak Burun Boğaz Hastalıkları, Rize, Turkey Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapeutic effect of intratympanic steroid injection combined with systemic steroid treatment in Bell's palsy.Methods: The patients treated for Bell's palsy between December 2016 and January 2019 were divided into two groups including those treated with systemic steroid (Group S) and those treated with intratympanic steroid in addition to systemic steroid (Group S+IT). Functional evaluation of the facial nerve was performed with House-Brackmann (H-B) grading system before and at the 6th month after the treatment.
Results: There were 21 patients in Group S and 16 patients in Group S+IT. Application H-B grades were 3.7±0.8 (3-5) in Group S and 3.8±0.7 (3-5) in Group S+IT, and there was no significant difference between them (p:0.391). Post-treatment 6th month H-B grades were 1.3±0.7 (1-4) in Group S and 1.2±0.5 (1-3) in Group S+IT, and there was no significant difference between them (p:0.726). When the groups were evaluated within themselves, significant improvement was observed between pre-treatment and post-treatment 6th month H-B grades (p<0.001).
Conclusion: Adjuvant intratympanic steroid injection had no therapeutic effect in Bell's palsy according to functional evaluations at the end of the 6th month.
Keywords : Bell's palsy, intratympanic steroid, systemic steroid, idiopathic facial nerve paralysis