Evolution of the Degree of Peripheral Facial Palsy in Diabetic and Nondiabetic Patients

Abstract

Objectives: Peripheral facial palsy (PFP) is a disorder of common neural causes that are still unknown. Other possible causes include vascular disorders, inflammatory and immunological factors, and possibly viral infections. According to the literature there is an association between the incidence of PFP and diabetes mellitus (DM), a disease which is known to cause neuropathies. The objective of this study is to evaluate the outcome of patients with concomitant DM and PFP, as well as to compare the evolution of these patients compared to patients without DM and PFP through clinical, laboratory, and electrophysiological tests. Methods: An observational case-control study. Outpatient follow-up between 2011-2012 of 50 patients according to the presence or absence of PFP and DM that were divided into 4 groups and matched. All patients underwent the following tests: tearing (Schirmer’s test), tonal and speech audiometry, tympanometry with reflex of the stapedius muscle, Test Hilger, and glucose analysis. Results: The rate of complete recovery considered grade I or II of the House-Brackman classification at the end of 6 months of follow-up showed that 58.4% of diabetic patients presented a good evolution in contrast to 80% of nondiabetics. Conclusions: In our findings we concluded that diabetic patients had a slower recovery time and poor degree of facial paralysis when compared to nondiabetics.