SynthesisThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners1996
The clinical problem of Bell's palsy: is treatment with steroids effective?
Synthesis in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 1996. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Corticosteroids for Bell's palsy (idiopathic facial paralysis).The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Clinical Prognostic Factors Associated with Good Outcomes in Pediatric Bell's Palsy.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Comparison of conservative therapy and steroid therapy for Bell's palsy in children.Korean journal of pediatrics · 2018Article
- Comparison of the Efficacy of Combination Therapy of Prednisolone - Acyclovir with Prednisolone Alone in Bell's Palsy.Iranian journal of child neurology · 2015Article
- Management of peripheral facial nerve palsy.European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology : official journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) : affiliated with the German Society for Oto-Rhino-Laryngology - Head and Neck Surgery · 2008Review
- Recent developments in Bell's palsy.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2004Review
- Investigation and treatment of facial paralysis.Archives of disease in childhood · 2001Review
- Bell's palsy.The Western journal of medicine · 2000Article
- Bell's Palsy and Herpes Zoster Oticus.Current treatment options in neurology · 2000Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
A general practitioner can expect to see a case of Bell's palsy once every two years. Though uncommon, it has aroused controversy over its definition, its aetiology, and the best treatment. Although the majority of cases of this dramatic but usually self-limiting condition are seen in primary care, most of the literature comes from hospital studies. The evidence from four randomized controlled studies shows marginal benefit for steroids with a Mantel-Haenzel odd's ratio of 1.63 (95% CI 1.01 to 2.64); but, because of doubt about the methodology in some of the studies, this result must be interpreted with caution.
Indexed as
Identifiers
8995858PMC1239868W1760616267What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.