Do Antiviral Medications Improve Recovery in Patients With Bell's Palsy?
Methods
Data Sources
Electronic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, and Cochrane Neuromuscular Disease Group Trials register. Hand search of bibliographies of included trials. Contacted clinical experts and drug companies for unpublished data. Search current to December 2008.
Study Selection
Two authors independently assessed trials for inclusion, with 100% agreement. Only randomized, controlled trials of antivirals with or without corticosteroids were included.
Data Extraction and Synthesis
Assessment of bias was conducted according to prespecified Cochrane methods (eg, blinding, data reporting). For meta-analysis, a random-effects model was used when substantial heterogeneity was identified; otherwise, a fixed-effects model was used to combine data. All included studies randomized patients and used a control group for comparison. Blinding of patients and assessors was incomplete across included studies.
An installment of the Systematic Review series:
This is a systematic review abstract, a regular feature of the Annals' Evidence-Based Emergency Medicine (EBEM) series. Each features an abstract of a systematic review from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and a commentary by an emergency physician knowledgeable in the subject area. The source for this systematic review abstract is: Lockhart P, Daly F, Pitkethly M, Comerford N, Sullivan F. Antiviral treatment for Bell's palsy (idiopathic facial paralysis). Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2009, Issue 4: CD001869. DOI: 0.1002/14651858. The Annals EBEM editors assisted in the preparation of the abstract of this Cochrane systematic review.
PII: S0196-0644(09)01809-5
doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2009.12.009
© 2010 American College of Emergency Physicians. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
