Prednisolone reduces sequelae in Bell's Palsy

by Bruce Sylvester – Emerging uses of FDA Approved Drugs –

Patients treated  for Bell palsy with prednisolone within 72 hours achieved  significantly reduced severity of  mild to moderate palsy severity at 12 months, researchers reported in the May issue of Archives of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery.
As background, the authors note that most patients recover from Bell palsy within 6 months without treatment. However, some patients have sequelae with functional, psychosocial, and esthetic consequences.
Thomas Berg, MD, Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet, Oslo, Norway, and colleagues  analyzed data from a large Scandivavian randomized placebo-controlled trial.
The study enrolled 829 subjects, age 18 to 75.
The investigators evaluated facial function at 12 months using the Sunnybrook and House-Brackmann grading systems.
There were four treatment cohorts,  placebo plus placebo, prednisolone plus placebo, valacyclovir plus placebo, or prednisolone plus valacyclovir.
“Treatment with prednisolone significantly reduced mild and moderate sequelae in Bell’s palsy at 12 months,” the authors reported.
“Prednisolone did not reduce the number of patients with severe sequelae. Valacyclovir alone did not affect the severity of sequelae,” they added. “The combination of prednisolone plus valacyclovir did not reduce the number of patients with sequelae compared with prednisolone alone.”