Bells Palsy Treatment - Steroids or Antiviral Study

http://allbellspalsy.info for the main Bell's Palsy Information Site. To purchase the Bell's Palsy Guide Ebook please go to http://bellspalsybook.allbellspalsy.info

Early Treatment with Prednisolone or Acyclovir in Bell's Palsy
Frank M. Sullivan, Ph.D., Iain R.C. Swan, M.D., Peter T. Donnan, Ph.D., Jillian M. Morrison, Ph.D., Blair H. Smith, M.D., Brian McKinstry, M.D., Richard J. Davenport, D.M., Luke D. Vale, Ph.D., Janet E. Clarkson, Ph.D., Victoria Hammersley, B.Sc., Sima Hayavi, Ph.D., Anne McAteer, M.Sc., Ken Stewart, M.D., and Fergus Daly, Ph.D.
ABSTRACT
Background Corticosteroids and antiviral agents are widely used to treat the early stages of idiopathic facial paralysis (i.e., Bell's palsy), but their effectiveness is uncertain.
Methods We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized, factorial trial involving patients with Bell's palsy who were recruited within 72 hours after the onset of symptoms. Patients were randomly assigned to receive 10 days of treatment with prednisolone, acyclovir, both agents, or placebo. The primary outcome was recovery of facial function, as rated on the House--Brackmann scale. Secondary outcomes included quality of life, appearance, and pain.

Results Final outcomes were assessed for 496 of 551 patients who underwent randomization. At 3 months, the proportions of patients who had recovered facial function were 83.0% in the prednisolone group as compared with 63.6% among patients who did not receive prednisolone and 71.2% in the acyclovir group as compared with 75.7% among patients who did not receive acyclovir (adjusted P=0.50). After 9 months, these proportions were 94.4% for prednisolone and 81.6% for no prednisolone and 85.4% for acyclovir and 90.8% for no acyclovir (adjusted P=0.10). For patients treated with both drugs, the proportions were 79.7% at 3 months and 92.7% at 9 months. There were no clinically significant differences between the treatment groups in secondary outcomes. There were no serious adverse events in any group.

Conclusions In patients with Bell's palsy, early treatment with prednisolone significantly improves the chances of complete recovery at 3 and 9 months. There is no evidence of a benefit of acyclovir given alone or an additional benefit of acyclovir in combination with prednisolone.
(Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN71548196 controlled-trials.com )

For the main Bell's Palsy site go to http://allbellspalsy.info
To buy the Bell's Palsy Guide Ebook please go to http://bellspalsybook.allbellspalsy.info

I wish you a speedy and complete recovery

Robert.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Bell's Palsy Treatment
• Facial Palsy
• Bells Palsy
• Belles Palsy
• Predisone
• Prednisolone
• Acyclovir
• Valocyclavir
• Famvir

[SUSMYB69]

i took both in the early stages of my BP, 90% recovery in 6 days, its best to get treatment in the early stages of your BP..thanks for your info..god bless you

[AllBellsPalsyInfo]

@SUSMYB69 - That is amazing recovery !!! The fastest I have heard before is 2 weeks. Have you healed completely now?

You are totally right with what you say - up to 72 hours for the steroids for them to have any real effect.

Thanks for your comment and wishes.

God bless you too.

[pdx954]

I'm so fortunate to have almost full recovery due to aggressive acupuncture treatments and herbs in 6 days !