• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.187-190
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• 1996

Facial nerve palsy is not an uncommon disease encountered at the department of otolaryngology or pain clinic. It usually occurs following viral infection(Bell's palsy, BP). However, it is rare to develop bilaterally, and that not simultaneously. We experienced a rare case of bilateral facial nerve palsy. Patient first experienced left side paralysis, then right side paralysis approximately two months later. We treated the patient with serial bilateral stellate ganglion blocks(SGB). When left side paralysis improved, we performed unilatertal SGB for right side paralysis. Patient was also treated with intermittent electro-acupuncture stimulations, to right side first, then left side. Four months of treatment provided good results. This may be the first case, in Korea, of facial nerve paralysis bilaterally within a certain interval, treated with serial SGB and electro-acupuncture stimulation. However, the etiology of this bilateral BP was not fully confirmed as being a cause of viral origin.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.501-509
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• 2022

Background Acute facial nerve iatrogenic or traumatic injury warrants rapid management with the goal of reestablishing nerve continuity within 72 hours. However, reconstructive efforts should be performed up to 12 months from the time of injury since facial musculature may still be viable and thus facial tone and function may be salvaged. Methods Data of all patients who underwent facial nerve repair following iatrogenic or traumatic injury were retrospectively collected and assessed. Paralysis etiology, demographics, operative data, postoperative course, and outcome were examined. Results Twenty patients underwent facial nerve repair during the years 2004 to 2019. Data were available for 16 of them. Iatrogenic injury was the common category (n = 13, 81%) with parotidectomy due to primary parotid gland malignancy being the common surgery (n = 7, 44%). Nerve repair was most commonly performed during the first 72 hours of injury (n = 12, 75%) and most of the patients underwent nerve graft repair (n = 15, 94%). Outcome was available for 12 patients, all of which remained with some degree of facial paresis. Six patients suffered from complete facial paralysis (50%) and three underwent secondary facial reanimation (25%). There were no major operative or postoperative complications. Conclusion Iatrogenic and traumatic facial nerve injuries are common etiologies of acquired facial paralysis. In such cases, immediate repair should be performed. For patients presenting with facial paralysis following previous surgery or trauma, nerve repair should be considered up to at least 6 months of injury. Longstanding paralysis is best treated with standard facial reanimation procedures.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.10-22
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• 2001

Objective : Many methods have been used for treatment of facial nerve paralysis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical difference between acupuncture therapy and acupuncture-oriental herb medicine therapy. Materials and Methods : From 05-01-2000 to 01-30-2001, 46 facial paralysis patients who were hospitalzed and treated more than five times at the Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion of Dongguk University Bundang Oriental Medical Hospital were selected for two group. One group(A group) was treated by acupuncture therapy, the other group(B group) was treated by acupuncture and oriental herb medicine therapy. A group was composed of 15 patients and B group was 31 patients. Results and Conclusion : As the results of study, both acupuncture therapy and acupunture-oriental herb medicine therapy were usable for facial nerve paralysis treatment. But, we could not discover any available difference between acupuncture therapy group and acupuncture-oriental herb medicine therapy group.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.263-268
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• 1992

Involvement of the facial nerve(herpes zoster oticus, Ramsay Hunt Syndrome) is a rather common clinical syndrome. It begins with unilateral ear pain, followed shortly by a peripheral facial palsy. Paresis or paralysis may affect the muscles of facial expression, which also close the eyelids. The levator palpebrae which is innervated by the 5th cranial nerve is spared, so the eye may remain open. The rash is usually confined to the tympanic membrane and the external auditory canal. It may spread to involve the outer surface of the lobe of the ear, anterior pillar or the fauces and mastoid. There also may be a loss of taste in the anterior two thirds of tongue. At time, the auditory nerve involvement produces tinnitus, deafness and vertigo. The 5th, 8th and 10th nerves and even the upper cervical spinal nerve can be involved presumedly on the base of spread of the infective process along anastomotic connections between the facial nerve. The facial paralysis is identical to that of Bells palsy. Frequently the recovery of facial nerve function is incomplete, leaving the patient with some residual facial weak ness. We experienced 2 cases of Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. The first patients, 55 year old male, visited our pain clinic on the day when his left facial nerve start to paralyze. We injected 6 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine into his left stellate ganglion 15 times. TENS was also applicated simultaneously. His facial paralysis was recovered completely 3 weeks after treatment without any complications. Another one, 53 year old male, visited us 7 weeks after onset of facial paralysis. He has been treated conventional oriental method(acupuncture, massage, warm application, etc). But the degree of his left facial paralysis didn't improve at all He has been treating with SGB 50 times and TENS for 2 months. Temporal and zygomatic branch of his left facial nerve recovered nearly completely but buccal and mandibular branch did not recover completely. We are willing to insist on the early treatment is the best choice in managing of Ramsay Hunt Syndrome.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.121-128
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• 2024

This study presents a case of facial nerve injury that occurred after parotidectomy for a benign tumor of the parotid gland that improved with integrated Korean medicine (IKM). On June 24, 2023, the patient presented with facial nerve injury based on a facial nerve conduction study after parotidectomy, with a score of five on Yanagihara's unweighted grading system (Y-system) and a grade of five on the House-Brackmann facial grading scale (H-B scale). During the 15 days of admission, IKM treatments, including acupuncture, pharmacopuncture, moxibustion, herbal steam therapy, physiotherapy, herbal medicine, and thread embedding acupuncture treatment, were performed. After treatment, the strength of the orbicularis oculi, orbicularis oris, and masticatory muscles improved, with a Y-system score of 17 and an H-B scale of III. In conclusion, the findings of this study confirm the applicability and effectiveness of IKM in the treatment of facial paralysis following parotidectomy.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.240-248
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• 2014

Purpose: The purpose of study was to determine the effects of muscle reeducation training in patients with acute facial nerve paralysis. Methods: Thirty patients were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n=15) or the control group (n=15). The experimental group received muscle reeducation training for 20 minutes after electrotherapy and the control group received conventional electrotherapy for only 40 minutes. Therapeutic intervention for each group was performed four times per week for four weeks. The patients were measured for recovery of paralysis using the House-Brackmann Grading System (H-B grade), the Movement Distance of Mouth, Nasolabial Angle (NA), and Facial Disability Index (FDI). Results: In within group comparison, the experimental group showed significant improvements for all variables (p<0.01). In comparison between two groups, the experimental group showed relatively greater significant improvements for all variables (p<0.01). Conclusion: These findings suggest that muscle reeducation training is more effective than conventional therapy in improving the condition of patients with facial nerve paralysis. In particular, the results of this study indicate that muscle reeducation training can be recommended by clinicians since it provides more benefits.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.58-72
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• 2023

Objectives The purpose of this study is to analyze the latest clinical trends in peripheral facial nerve palsy pediatric and adolescent patients who treated in Korean medicine hospital. Methods The study was conducted based on 185 cases of pediatric and adolescent patients with peripheral facial nerve paralysis who visited Korean medicine hospital from January 2017 to June 2022. Results The mean age of onset of facial nerve paralysis in children and adolescents was 11.7 years, and the incidence rate was higher in boys than in girls. The seasonal distribution was the most common in autumn, and 91.4% were diagnosed with Bell's palsy. The recurrence rate was 7.6%. The severity was evaluated on the House-Brackmann Grading System (HBGS) scale, and the most common was Grade III. It took an average of 6.5 days from the date of onset to visit the hospital, and 75.7% visited the hospital within a week from the date of onset. Hospitalized treatment was 69.2%. The higher the HBGS grade, the more hospitalized treatment was, and the total number of treatments and the duration of treatment tended to increase. The average treatment period from the first visit date was 119.6 days. 17.8% received only Korean medicine treatment, and 69.2% took Western medicine with herbal medicine. Conclusions In this study, there was a difference in the average treatment period from previous studies according to the study period setting. Long-term studies on the recovery rate and prognosis of pediatric facial paralysis are needed.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.326-331
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• 1998

Facial nerve paralysis is a common pain clinical diagnosis. But ipsilateral or contralateral recurrent facial paralysis is found in about 2.6~19.5% of facial paralysis and especially bilateral facial paralysis is rare. While idiopathic facial paralysis is the most common diagnosis, a comprehensive evaluation must be completed prior to this diagnosis in patients with bilateral facial paralysis. A representative case of bilateral alternating facial paralysis treated with stellate ganglion block (SGB) is presented. A 57 years old male patient who had the onset of a right facial paralysis 7 months ago visited pain clinic. Five months after the onset of right facial paralysis, as it was improving, he developed a left facial paralysis. He had history of hypertension, diabetus mellitus and pain episode on mastoid process before facial paralysis developed. Electrical test showed incomplete neuropathy on both side and computed tomography (CT) scan was normal. He was treated with SGB, physical theraphy and aspirin medication. After 25 times SGB, he was recovered almost completely.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.526-528
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• 2008

A 4-year-old male Maltese dog was referred with chief complaint of facial nerve paralysis and hyperthermia. These clinical signs were occurred after tooth extraction. Leukocytosis and swelling of left side of gums were detected. He was medicated with antibiotics for 9 days, however, inability of blinking in left eye, lacrimation and hyperthermia were not improved. The patient was administrated with Oyaksungisan (50 mg/kg, PO, BID) for 14 days and was treated by injection-acupuncture (AP) with bee venom ($200\;{\mu}g/head$, two times/week, total three times). The patient was treated by injection-AP with dexamethasone (1 mg/kg, two times/week, total two times). As a result, Left blepharon was slightly blinked at session 4. Blinking of left blepharon became normal after session 5. The present patient was a case with canine facial nerve paralysis which showed favorable therapeutic response by alternative treatment.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.139-144
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• 2022

Peripheral facial nerve palsy is a neurological condition/disease characterized by unilateral paralysis of the facial muscles. We report the effects of complex Korean medicine treatment in 2 patients diagnosed with Bell's palsy who developed symptoms 3-4 days following vaccination with ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and who received oral steroids and antiviral medications. Complex Korean medicine treatments including acupuncture, electroacupuncture, bee venom acupuncture, cupping therapy, herbal medicine, and physical therapy were performed. Symptom improvement was evaluated daily using the Numerical Rating Scale, House-Brackmann Grade, and Yanagihara's Score. Patient 1 was hospitalized for 22 days and Patient 2 visited the outpatient clinic 20 times. In both cases, postauricular pain caused by Bell's palsy disappeared, and symptoms of facial paralysis improved following completion of treatment. These findings could suggest that combined Korean medicine treatment may improve symptoms of peripheral facial nerve palsy.