Only a few centers nationally offer middle fossa decompression for Bell’s Palsy. The procedure requires that the surgical team has a significant experience with the procedure. Patients are carefully selected according to strict criteria and good health. The criteria are based on ENOG which is performed by our partners in neurology and strict adherence to a recognized protocol. While the majority of patients with Bell’s Palsy taken as a whole do recover well, there are a subset of patients with poor results on the ENOG testing that can benefit from surgery.
Surgery should be performed expeditiously in order to get the benefits. Surgery is considered an option and our team will present each patient with details on the evidence to support the procedure as an individualized assessment. Our team has a large experience with the procedure and a high degree of safety measures to optimize the process if decided upon. Among these measures includes highly accurate intraoperative image navigation and spinal drain diversion to mitigate the effects and absolutely minize the degree extradural temporal lobe elevation.
The procedure is available only in a limited number of centers throught the United States due to the paucity of experienced teams. Central DuPage Hospital Neurosciences is one of the few in the region with a high level of experience and comfort as well as awareness and in place protocols to make this possible.
If you would like to read the sentinal article that supports the use of the technique, please click the link below:
If you would like to read the AAOHNS Position Statement on Treatment of Bell’s Palsy please click the link below: