Post-surgery cholesteatoma complicated by facial nerve paralysis: A case report from Afghanistan.

INTRODUCTION: Cholesteatoma is a benign tumoral lesion of squamous epithelial cells in middle ear that can exist as congenital or acquired forms. PRESENTATION OF CASES: A 35-year-old housewife presented to ENT clinic of a private hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, with a complete facial nerve paralysis in the right side. In her antecedents, there is a tympanomastoidectomy due to chronic middle ear infection. First symptom was right side earache without any discharge. She started to notice a progressive nodule in the posterior-inferior side of her right ear. The patient was taken to the operating room. She underwent general anesthesia, an extensive cholesteatoma was removed, and a limited area of the fallopian canal in which facial nerve oedema or redness was evident. Post-operative House Brackmann grade was 1 on day 15 after the surgery. DISCUSSION: Cholesteatoma is primarily managed surgically and currently there is no suitable medical substitute treatment strategy for cholesteatoma. Hearing improvement, making the ear dry and total omission of cholesteatoma are primary goals of surgical interventions in cholesteatoma management. CONCLUSION: Cholesteatoma after surgical manipulations of middle ear is a rare complication with notable morbidity that has been reported almost from all around the world but our patient is the first reported case of cholesteatoma formation after surgical management of COM from Afghanistan that presented with facial nerve paralysis and hear decline.

Complete laceration of motor branches of facial nerve and its successful repair: A case report from Afghanistan.

INTRODUCTION: Facial nerve (the seventh cranial nerve) injury causes functional, aesthetic, and psychological difficulties. The second most common cause of facial nerve palsy is trauma. PRESENTATION OF CASES: A previously healthy 21-year-old worker, was brought to emergency room after car accident, with complete paralysis of all muscles of the left side of his face. He was transferred to operating room. After anatomical determining the nerve, end-to-end manner was done. After nine month of follow up an excellent repair was seen. DISCUSSION: Traumatic facial nerve injury is usually accompanied by temporal bone fracture (up to 70 percent) but in some cases facial nerve is damaged without any fractures, and damage of facial nerve branches can happen due to laceration. Management of an injured facial nerve depends on its etiology. There are three main options for facial nerve repair; direct end-to-end coaptation, coaptation with an interposition graft and nerve transfer. Surgery exploration is indicated in patients with complete and immediate facial nerve paralysis and denervation more than 90 % electrophysiological findings. CONCLUSION: Traumatic facial nerve paralysis management is challenging considering operation in low resources countries. In this case early repair of facial nerve is beneficial and has a good to excellent prognosis in immediate complete damage of facial nerve even without accessibility to electroneurography or electromyography to estimate the severity of injury.