The causes and treatments of 47 children with facial nerve palsy experienced in two hospitals in northern Greece

Abstract

Objective: to review and analyze the etiology, management and outcome of facial palsy in children. Methods: retrospective study of 47patients of Northern Greece aged less than 15 years diagnosed with facial nerve palsy from 2000 to 2011. Results:  a total of 47 patients (25 female, 22 male) with a mean age of 9 years were included. Causes of facial palsy were infectious (22 patients, 46.8%), Bell's palsy (18 patients, 38.3%), trauma (4 patients, 8.5%), congenital (2 patients, 4.3%), or other (1 patient, 2.1%). The left side of the face was involved in 55.3% of the cases. Facial palsy was more frequent at ages between 6 and 10 years with prevalence 42.6%. Between these ages the most frequent causes were Bell's palsy (45%) and infectious causes (45%). Conclusions: in this study the most common cause of facial palsy was infectious conditions followed by Bell's palsy. In Bell's palsy there was no significant difference in the recovery rate between the groups with or without prednisolone treatment.

Keywords

• facial palsy; children; epidemiological; etiology

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