title: Comparison of the Efficacy of Combination Therapy of Prednisolone - Acyclovir with Prednisolone Alone in Bell's Palsy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Bell's palsy is a rapid onset, usually, unilateral paralysis of the facial nerve that causes significant changes in an individual's life such as a decline in personal, social, and educational performance. This study compared efficacy of combined prednisolone and acyclovir therapy with prednisolone alone.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study is a randomized controlled trial conducted on 43 Children (2-18 years old) with Bell's palsy. The first group of 23 patients was treated with prednisolone and the remaining patients were treated with a combination of prednisolone and acyclovir. The required data were extracted, using an informational form based on the House-Brackmann Scale, which grades facial nerve paralysis. The data were analyzed with Mann-Whitney test using SPSS version 16.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of the first and second group were 8.65 ± 5.07 and 8.35 ± 4.92 years, respectively, (p=0.84). Sixty one percent and 39% of patients in the first group, and 45% and 55% of patients in the second group were male and female, respectively. No significant differences exist between the groups in terms of age and gender. The rate of complete recovery was 65.2% in group I and 90% in the group II (p=0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study showed that the combined prednisolone and acyclovir therapy of patients with Bell's palsy is far more effective than treatment with prednisolone alone. Actually, age and gender had no impact on the rate of recovery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Children and Adolescent Health Research Center, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khajeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Hamedan University of Medical Sciences, Hamedan, Iran.
authors.forename: Afshin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fayyazi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Children and Adolescent Health Research Center, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Soleimani
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Children and Adolescent Health Research Center, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
authors.forename: Ghasem
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Miri-Aliabad
authors.affiliation: General Physician, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shaykh Veisi
authors.affiliation: Student of Pharmacy , Zabol University of Medical Science , Zabol, Iran.
authors.forename: Behrouz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Khajeh
keywords: Acyclovir; Bell’s palsy; Children; Prednisolone