Facial Nerve Palsy Amid the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: A Pooled Analysis.

Importance: Idiopathic facial nerve palsy (FNP) has devastating sequelae and is potentially linked to coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19).

Objective: The rate of FNP was compared in the pandemic versus pre-pandemic periods. Furthermore, the risk of FNP was estimated among the COVID-19 vaccinated group.

Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Setting: An electronic search was conducted in 7 databases: Scopus, Web of Science core collection, PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, Embase, and CINAHL.

Participants: English observational studies investigating an association between idiopathic FNP and COVID-19 or its vaccination were included, irrespective of patients' demographics.

Exposures: COVID-19 or COVID-19 vaccine.

Main outcome measures: Change in FNP incidence between the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods; risk of developing FNP in individuals vaccinated against COVID-19 compared to those who were unvaccinated against COVID-19.

Results: After excluding duplicates, the search yielded 906 related articles, of which 118 articles were included. The risk of FNP was statistically significantly higher during the COVID-19 pandemic than the pre-pandemic period (RR: 1.68, [95% CI: 1.16-2.43], P = .01). A nonsignificant increase in FNP risk was identified among COVID-19 vaccinated individuals compared to unvaccinated individuals (overall OR: 1.07, [95% CI: 0.85-1.35], P = .55).

Conclusions and relevance: A remarkable increase in FNP rates was identified during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic, which seemed unlikely to be attributed to COVID-19 vaccination.