SynthesisBrazilian journal of physical therapy
Effect of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation in the treatment of dysfunctions in facial paralysis: a systematic literature review.
Synthesis in Brazilian journal of physical therapy. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Postoperative rehabilitation strategies and facial nerve recovery after cerebellopontine angle tumor surgery.European journal of translational myology · 2026Article
- Telerehabilitation for peripheral facial palsy: A scoping review.Journal of telemedicine and telecare · 2026Article
- Article
- Influence of medicinal treatment on the course of nonspecific acute low back pain in older adults: generalized estimating equation using data from the BACE Study - Brazil.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2025Observational
- Making Sense of Proprioception by Bibliometric Research.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation and/or Electrical Stimulation in Patients with Peripheral Facial Paralysis: A Systematic Review.Neurology international · 2025Review
- Outpatient care for facial palsy-a survey on patient satisfaction in uni- and interdisciplinary approaches.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Article
- Managing Facial Palsy After Stroke: Results From an Online Survey of Health Professionals.International journal of language & communication disordersArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundFacial palsy (FP) is defined as an injury of the seventh cranial nerve pair, partial or total, which can be classified as central or peripheral. Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) is primarily used in the functional recovery of upper and lower limb conditions, however the technique has also been used for FP.
objectiveTo analyze the effect of PNF in the treatment of dysfunctions in FP.
methodsTen databases including BVS, CENTRAL Cochrane, CINAHL, PEDro, PubMed, Scielo, ScienceDirect, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and Google Scholar were comprehensively searched for dates prior to April 2021. Randomized controlled trials of PNF in individuals with dysfunctions caused by facial paralysis were eligible. Outcomes measures were recovery rate and clinical recovery, both measured by using the House Brackmann Scale. Recovery time was measured in days and synkinesis assessed with the Synkinesis Assessment Questionnaire.
resultsA total of 184 patients were included. In general, the included studies have low methodological quality. None of the five studies used PNF as the sole intervention. In all of the included studies PNF was used in combination with other interventions. Our findings show very low evidence that PNF is more effective than minimal intervention for treating FP.
conclusionWe conclude that given the limited number of studies included and the low methodological quality presented, recommendations based on these studies should be interpreted with caution. The effects of PNF on facial paralysis are not clear.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.