J Korean Pain Soc.  1994 May;7(1):43-48.

Facial Nerve Block for the Treatment of Facial Spasm: A retrospective analysis of 27 patients

• Kim C
• Lee YB
• Lee HK
• Yoon KB
• Choi R

Abstract

Twenty seven patients with hemifacial spasm were treated by facial nerve block at the foramen stylomastoideum and O'Brien block from January 1992 to March 1994. There were 16 female and ll male patients, a 1.5:1 ratio respectively. Most patients were 40-60 years old. Among the 27 patients treated by nerve blocks, 26 responded well to the facial nerve block, including two cases of O'Brien block. One patient failed to respond to the facial nerve block. Induced facial palsy disappeared within one or two months within the majority of patients. Among the 26 patients who received nerve block, 6 patients required a second block within 3 to 9 months. After successful nerve block, all patients were free of spasm for 1 to 16 months. Although the follow-up period was short in duration, these results suggest that facial nerve block is a satisfactory and reliable method in the treatment of facial spasm.

Keyword

Hemifacial spasm; Facial nerve block

MeSH Terms

Facial Nerve*
Facial Paralysis
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Hemifacial Spasm
Humans
Male
Nerve Block
Retrospective Studies*
Spasm*