What are the clinical manifestations of facial nerve injury

Once the facial nerve of the human body is damaged, if it is not treated in time, it will develop into facial paralysis, which will cause the patient to experience symptoms such as disappearance of forehead wrinkles, widening of palpebral fissures, or drooping of corners of the mouth. According to professional investigations, psychological factors can also induce facial paralysis. Before the onset of the disease, patients are very tired and lack sleep. What are the clinical manifestations of facial nerve injury?

First, what are the clinical manifestations of facial nerve injury? Early symptoms:

Frontalis muscle paralysis can cause the inability to frown, the eyebrows are lower than the healthy side, the palpebral fissure becomes larger, and the forehead wrinkles become lighter or disappear. Paralysis of the orbicularis oculi muscle can cause the eyelids to be unable to close. When you close your eyes forcefully, the eyeballs will roll outward and upward, exposing the sclera. Late symptoms: Paralysis of the buccinator muscles causes the corners of the mouth to droop when the mouth is closed, air leaks from the cheeks when puffed out, the nasolabial groove becomes shallower, the person cannot whistle, and food remains between the cheek and gums when eating.

Second, most patients who generally recover well will show positive electrical responses within a few days to three weeks after the injury. If there is still no sign of recovery 6 to 8 weeks after the injury, the outcome will be poor. Fortunately, about 75% of facial nerve injuries can be recovered, about 15% can be partially recovered, and only 10% will have permanent facial muscle paralysis.

Third, the treatment of facial nerve injury. Since the possibility of recovery after facial nerve injury is relatively high, early treatment should be based on non-surgical treatment, using dexamethasone and appropriate dehydration to reduce traumatic reaction and local edema, and giving neurotrophic drugs and calcium blockers to improve nerve metabolism and vascular blood supply, which can often promote nerve function recovery. Surgical treatment is only used for patients whose nerves have been severed or whose severe facial paralysis has not responded to 4 to 6 months of non-surgical treatment. Its purpose is not only to restore the motor function of the facial muscles, but also to correct the appearance and relieve the psychological pressure of patients. There have been successful reports of intracranial reconstruction of facial nerve accidentally injured during surgery; however, there are no reports of reconstruction of traumatic facial paralysis.

What are the clinical manifestations of facial nerve injury? In the early-onset type, facial muscle paralysis occurs immediately after the injury, the affected side loses expression, the eyelids do not close completely, and the corners of the mouth lean toward the healthy side, which is more obvious when crying or laughing. The affected eye often has exposure keratitis. If the facial nerve is damaged proximal to the chorda tympani nerve, the taste sensation of the anterior 2/3 of the tongue on the same side will also be lost. In the delayed-onset type, facial paralysis often occurs 5 to 7 days after injury, mostly due to bleeding, ischemia, edema or compression, and the prognosis is good.