Abstract

VALE, Sofia Oliveira; MARCALO, Sofia; MARTINS, Cláudio Sousa  and  MACHADO, Ana Catarina. Physical medicine and rehabilitation in the treatment of bell's palsy: what's the evidence?. Rev Port Med Geral Fam [online]. 2019, vol.35, n.2, pp.127-135. ISSN 2182-5173.  https://doi.org/10.32385/rpmgf.v35i2.12030.

Objective: To review the scientific evidence of the impact of physical medicine and rehabilitation (PMR) in the recovery of acute and chronic Bell's Palsy recovery, in any degree of severity. Data sources: National Guideline Clearinghouse, Guidelines Finder, Canadian Medical Association Infobase, Cochrane Library, DARE, and PubMed. Methods: Search of clinical practice guidelines, meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and original studies, published in English, Spanish and Portuguese, published since 2006, using the MeSH terms ‘peripheral facial paralysis', ‘Bell's palsy', and ‘rehabilitation'. The evidence level and the strength of recommendation of the studies were determined using the American Family Physician's Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy Scale. Results: Among the 127 articles retrieved, seven met the inclusion criteria: two clinical guidelines, two systematic reviews, and three original studies. The Canadian Medical Association (2014) recommends the use of PMR in the chronic phase, but not on acute phase, whilst the National Guideline Clearinghouse (2013) does not recommend PMR, regardless of the phase. The systematic review by Ferreira et al. (2015) shows a greater motor recovery with PMR than with isolated pharmacological treatment, without phase discrimination. The systematic review by Teixeira et al. (2012) claims there is low-quality evidence showing that PMR is effective, both in the acute and chronic phases. The cohort study by Toffola et al. (2012) concludes that patients with axonotmesis in the acute phase show clinical improvement with PMR. The clinical randomised controlled trial by Monini et al. (2016 August) shows a greater and faster recovery with MFR than with pharmacological treatment alone in severe Bell's palsy. The clinical randomised controlled trial by Monini et al. (2016 December) suggests the importance of combining MFR with corticosteroid therapy for a better outcome in the recovery of severe BP in all age groups. Discussion: The studies have low quality and are very heterogeneous. In the acute they do not allow to conclude whether patient recovery is spontaneous or due/accelerated by the use of PMR. There is no consistent evidence to recommend for or against PMR in the acute or chronic phases, therefore strength of recommendation cannot be attributed. More high-quality randomised controlled studies are needed.

Keywords : Peripheral facial paralysis; Bell's palsy; Rehabilitation.

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