顔面神経麻痺に対する顔面—舌下神経クロスリンク手術と術後リハビリテーション

抄録

Weakness, hypertonicity, loss of isolated control and/or synkinetic movement of the facial mimetic muscle are common sequelae after facial palsy, unlike disruption of nerve continuity as in Bell's palsy or Hunt's syndrome. Here we describe a surgical procedure and postsurgical rehabilitation for the treatment of such sequelae.
The surgical procedure comprises facial and hypoglossal nerve cross-linking that connects the nerves by an interpositional nerve graft with end-to-side anastomosis. For postsurgical physical rehabilitation, patients are instructed in the following techniques for facial neuromuscular retraining: 1) to practice isolated facial motion in front of a mirror (mirror-biofeedback technique); 2) to avoid gross voluntary movement both during practice and in daily life; and 3) to frequently massage and stretch the affected facial muscle.
Between December 2005 and May 2008, twenty patients with sequelae after facial palsy were treated by our rehabilitation technique. Sixteen patients showed improvement in abnormal facial movement, while four did not. None of the patients developed facial synkinesis associated with tongue motion. Our surgical procedure and postsurgical rehabilitation exercises are alternative techniques for the sequelae of facial palsy.