[Peripheral facial palsy. Descriptive study at the university hospital in Getafe]. / Parálisis facial periférica. Estudio descriptivo en el Hospital Universitario de Getafe.

OBJECTIVE: Our aim is to validate a protocol for the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral facial palsy. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A cross-sectional and retrospective descriptive study was made of 63 patients diagnosed with facial palsy and given out-patient follow-up care. RESULTS: The average age was 41 years, with a 60 % preponderance of men, and the predominant side was the left one with a House-Brackmann degree of III on debut. The average time of evolution was 24 hours and the most frequent symptoms were mastoid pain and algiacusia. The treatment used was oral corticoids. Most were discharged in the first 60 days, without any relation with treatment or with the initial degree. CONCLUSIONS: Our protocol is valid and it allows suitable monitoring of this pathology. Most of the cases are resolved within the first 60 days. The tests habitually done have a low diagnostic yield, except for the electroneuronography, very useful within the first 21 days.

Postoperative Pain in Adult Tonsillectomy: Is There Any Difference Between the Technique?

Tonsillectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures performed worldwide. Several techniques have been developed to reduce morbidity and enhance recovery after tonsillectomy. Our study was designed to compare post-operative pain with three different techniques: cold dissection (CD), monopolar-bipolar dissection (MBD) and coblation dissection (CBD). 103 adults were scheduled for elective tonsillectomy from September 2014 to December 2015, and were randomized to CD, MBD and CBD. Post-operative pain was assessed using visual analogue scale (VAS) and Lattinen Test (LT). We did not find significant differences between the groups in the VAS pain scores (p > 0.05), except for the first day, when CBD tonsillectomy showed a higher pain score (p < 0.05). The differences in LT scores between the three techniques were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Comparison of analgesic consumption between CD, MBD and CBD did not found any significant differences irrespective of the technique used. When first and second week after surgery were compared, differences in analgesics requirements were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Seventeen cases (16.5%) of secondary haemorrhage were reported, but there were no statistical differences in the rate of postoperative bleeding between the three groups (p > 0.05). We conclude that in our study comparison of the three techniques, CD, MBD and CBD, did not show significant differences in the post-tonsillectomy pain scores and bleeding rate.