The use of botulinum toxin type a in the acute phase of facial nerve injury after neurosurgical surgery.

AIM: To evaluate the role of botulinum toxin type A in the acute phase of facial nerve injury after neurosurgical surgery.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

The study involved 55 patients with acute facial muscle paresis caused by facial nerve injury during surgery on the posterior cranial fossa and cerebello-pontine angle (CPA). The first group consisted of 35 patients (mean age, 48.14±1.26 years) who were administered botulinum toxin type A (xeomin) at a dose of 2-3 U per point in muscles of the intact side of the face. The control group included 20 patients (mean age, 49.85±1.4 years) who underwent standard rehabilitation treatment of this pathology. The treatment efficacy was evaluated using the House-Brackmann Scale, the Yanagihara facial grading system, the Facial Disability Index (FDI), and the Sunnybrook Facial Grading (SFG) Scale.

RESULTS

Before treatment, patients of both groups experienced severe dysfunction according to the House-Brackmann Scale. A month after the botulinium toxin type A therapy had been started, a significant improvement in the group of patients who received botulinum toxin was observed at all scales (p<0.05), whereas improvement in the facial nerve function in the second group was observed only by the 3rd month of rehabilitation treatment (p<0.05). The number of synkineses in the patients who did not receive botulinum toxin was 46% higher than that in the first group (p=0.019) one year after the surgery, and it was higher by 91% after 2 years (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The use of botulinum toxin type A is reasonable in acute facial nerve injury and should be mandatory in combined therapy of these patients.