Facial Nerve Palsy in Children

Generally, the cause of facial palsy in children is more varied than in the case of adults. Birth trauma is one of them, but reports on this are few. It is possible that the palsy resolved spontaneously before the medical examination. We met with a case of birth trauma caused by forceps delivery. The female patient suffered severe facial nerve palsy and right ear bleeding after arrival. We report herein on the case and our clinical examination of facial nerve palsy in children at the local mainstay hospital. We reviewed 37 cases, ranging in age from 0 to 15 years, who demonstrated facial palsy at Niigata Prefectural Central Hospital between April 1998 and March 2008. The most common causes of facial palsy in children were Bell’s palsy (24 patients, 65%), followed by birth trauma (4 patients, 11%) and Hunt syndrome (3 patients, 8%). Of the 37 patients, 34 were followed up until their recovery or for longer than 6 months. One patient with a cerebellopontine angle tumor improved, another patient with congenital facial palsy remained unchanged, and the remaining 32 patients recovered completely. In 4 cases of birth trauma, the palsy resolved spontaneously within sixty days.