[Peripheral facial palsy in middle ear surgery: case report and review of literature]

Abstract

We present a case of a patient who experienced right facial palsy after being operated for otosclerosis. Seventeen years before our patient had yet undergone the same operation on the contralateral ear and had presented a facial palsy. We also report another case of facial palsy and middle ear damage after an operation for otosclerosis. Facial palsy is a rare complication of middle ear surgery. It is probably caused by a viral relapse and it recedes after few weeks if a proper therapy is administrated to the patient. Thus we deem it is useless to perform immediately advanced, invasive and expensive tests. On the contrary we believe that it is useful, in those cases in which an otosclerotic patient has a history of herpes simplex virus infection, to administer a preventive antiviral therapy before the operation.