Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Turkish archives of otorhinolaryngology, cilt.63, sa.3, ss.113-120, 2025 (ESCI)
Objective: The timing of facial nerve (FN) decompression (FND) for Bell’s palsy is controversial.
Intraneural fibrosis is one of the factors affecting post-traumatic nerve regeneration. This
study aimed to investigate the effects of decompression timing and antifibrotic agent topical
mitomycin-C (MMC) on nerve regeneration in rats in which a Bell’s palsy model was created.
Methods: Bell’s paralysis model was created by ligating the subjects’ FN trunk. A total of 25
subjects were divided into five groups of five each. Group 1 was not decompressed. The FN was
decompressed after one week in Groups 2,3 and after three weeks in Groups 4,5. Topical MMC was
applied after decompression on the nerves of the rats in Groups 3,5. Clinical, electrophysiological
and histopathological evaluations were performed at three weeks after compression in Group 1
and after decompression in the other groups.
Results: The median total clinical score in Group 1 was statistically significantly lower than the
other groups (p=0.001). There were no statistically significant differences between Groups 2-5
(p>0.05). The mean left (operated)/right (undamaged) amplitude values of the subjects in Group
1 were statistically lower (p=0.006), while no statistically significant differences were found among
Group 2-5 (p>0.05). It was observed that while axonal degeneration, macrovacuolization and
myelin morphology disruption was more severe in subjects in Group 1 (adjusted p<0.05), there
were no statistically significant differences between Group 2-5 (p>0.05).
Conclusion: FND can be effective in patients with total paralysis, even when performed in the
late stages after allowing a period of recovery. Also, topical MMC applications aiming to reduce
intraneural fibrosis have no effect on nerve regeneration.
Keywords: Bell palsy, facial nerve, animal experimentation, rats, surgical decompression