Predicting recovery in Bell’s palsy: the impact of early rehabilitation and prognostic indicators

Ninety-four patients with FP treated at our center were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were stratified by time to rehabilitation (TTR): Early Rehabilitation (≤ 60 days), who accessed our unit directly, and Late Rehabilitation (> 60 days), who had first received other treatments or rehabilitation not including fNMR elsewhere. Outcomes included House-Brackmann (HB) grade, Sunnybrook score, synkinesis, and time to recovery onset (TTRO). Complete recovery was defined as HB I at 12 months.

At 12 months, 60 patients (63.8%) achieved complete recovery, while 34 (36.2%) did not. Median TTR was 23 days [IQR 16-68], and median TTRO was 48 days [30-113]. Early Rehabilitation was associated with significantly better outcomes at 6 and 12 months, with higher Sunnybrook scores and lower HB grades (all p