Out come of oral Acyclovir& prednisolone therapy versus prednisolone alone for patients with Bell’s palsy ; A randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Background: Bell’s palsy is a common disorder affecting all age groups and both genders, there are a lot of controversy in therapeutic lines. Although this syndrome was first described in 1821 by the Scottish anatomist and surgeon Sir Charles Bell, controversy still surrounds its etiology and management . The viral etiology have been mentioned in many reports and the use of Acyclovir therapy is controversial too. Objective : To assess the out come of antiviral therapy in treatment of Bell’s palsy among our patients.Design: Randomized controlled clinical trial.Methods: One hundred patients with Bell’s palsy who had attended neurology out patient clinic and neurophysiology unit in Al Sadder Teaching Hospital in Najaf during the period from September 2005 to August 2007 . The cases were randomly assigned into two groups of therapy. which were age and sex matched. The first group; included patients who treated with prednisolone and Acyclovir (50 patients) . The second group was treated with prednisolone alone (50 patients). House BrackMann grading system was used to assess the therapeutic response after two weeks of treatment and two months of follow up period ..Results: The bell’s palsy was coming more from urban areas , and male affected more than females .The functional recovery among cases treated with prednisolone- Acyclovir and those treated with prednisolone alone was similar (P>0.05) . . The only difference was that recovery time taken for the patients received oral Acyclovir was more rapid than the other group . conclusion : Both treatments ended with same response but adding Acyclovir shortened the duration of therapy.