Early rehabilitation of facial nerve deficit after acoustic neuroma surgery.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether an early physical rehabilitative program could improve and/or accelerate recovery from a postoperative deficit of facial nerve (FN) function.


METHODS
A retrospective study of the charts of patients who presented a postoperative FN deficit after surgery for acoustic neuroma (AN) was carried out. Twenty-nine patients were enrolled and divided into 2 groups: 18 who underwent early physical rehabilitation and 11 who did not undergo rehabilitation. All the AN patients underwent translabyrinthine removal and were classified preoperatively according to the House-Brackmann staging system. Physical rehabilitation was performed according to Kabat (i.e. neuromuscular facilitation). FN function was assessed postoperatively and classified according to the House-Brackmann grading system.


RESULTS
In Grade IV and V patients, early rehabilitation allowed a faster and better recovery with respect to AN patients for whom rehabilitation was not carried out.


CONCLUSIONS
Early physical rehabilitation has proved to be effective as a helpful tool for recovery from FN deficit and it is therefore advisable to use it soon after surgery, especially for FN deficits worse than Grade IV.
Barbara
Maurizio
M
Department of Neurology and Otorhinolaryngology, Ospedale S. Andreas, II Medical School, University of Rome La Sapienza, Rome, Italy. maurizio.barbara@uniroma1.it
Monini
Simonetta
S
Buffoni
Antonella
A
Cordier
Aldo
A
Ronchetti
F
F
Harguindey
Alejandro
A
Di Stadio
A
A
Cerruto
R
R
Filipo
Roberto
R
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D007758:Ear, Inner / Q000601:surgery*; D005155:Facial Nerve Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009464:Neuroma, Acoustic / Q000601:surgery*; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000379:methods*; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome