[Surgical treatment of facial palsy]

The results of surgical treatment of 46 cases of facial nerve paralysis from 1974 to 1987 were reported. Among them, facial nerve decompression comprised 36 cases and facial nerve grafting 10 cases. The causes of facial nerve paralysis were head trauma in 13, surgical injury in 22, otitis media in 4, facial neurofibroma in 2 and Bell's palsy in 5. Thirty-six cases were followed up from 0.5 to 6.5 years. Twenty-five cases (69.5%) had totally recovered, 7 cases (19.4%) partially recovered and 4 cases (11.1%) had no recovered. The result of facial nerve decompression was better than that of facial nerve grafting. The indication, the significance of nerve excitability test and the influencing factors were discussed.