Effect of Intratympanic Dexamethasone on Bell's palsy: A Clinical Trial.

Introduction: The main objective of this study is to examine the hypothesis that intratympanic corticosteroids can benefit the treatment of Bell's palsy and shorten the period needed for recovery.

Materials and methods: This study was conducted prospectively using double-blind clinical trials. A total of 321 patients with acute unilateral facial paralysis were included in the survey, with 144 patients excluded due to exclusion criteria and 177 patients included. These patients were divided into an intervention group (54 patients) and a control group (123 patients). Prednisolone and acyclovir were given orally to both groups. Intratympanic dexamethasone was given to the intervention group as an additional treatment.

Results: Patients' House-Brackmann (H.B.) scores were recorded when they were visited three days, one week, three weeks, three months, and six months after receiving intratympanic dexamethasone. It was discovered that there was no significant difference in H.B. scores between the intervention and control groups. The first day of symptom improvement in the intervention group was 1.81 days after starting treatment, while it took 2.91 days in the control group, which is a significant difference.

Conclusion: Intratympanic dexamethasone injection, in addition to the 10-day prednisolone-acyclovir therapy regimen, did not affect patients recovering from Bell's palsy in the short term (three weeks) or long term (six months) but is significantly effective in the first day of recovery as measured by the House-Brackmann scale.