https://doi.org/10.4081/ejtm.2024.13162

Deceleration of denervated facial muscle atrophy through functional electrical stimulation: a sonographic quantification in patients with facial nerve paralysis

Early Access
Submitted: 25 September 2024
Accepted: 3 October 2024
Published: 13 November 2024
Facial palsy, electrical stimulation, muscle ultrasound, denervated muscle
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Authors

Gabriel Meincke
gabriel.meincke@uni-jena.de
https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9960-9783
ENT-Department, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
Johannes Krauß
https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6929-2694
ENT-Department, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
Maren Geitner
https://orcid.org/0009-0002-3688-2853
ENT-Department, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Facial-Nerve-Center, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
Anna-Maria Kuttenreich
ENT-Department, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Facial-Nerve-Center, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
Dirk Arnold
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8089-3934
ENT-Department, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Facial-Nerve-Center, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
Jonas Ballmaier
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3051-2835
ENT-Department, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Facial-Nerve-Center, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
Thomas Lehmann
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1104-7923
Institute for Medical Statistics, Computer Science and Data Science, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
Winfried Mayr
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9648-3649
Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Orlando Guntinas-Lichius
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9671-0784
ENT-Department, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Facial-Nerve-Center, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Center of Rare Diseases, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
Gerd Fabian Volk
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1245-6331
ENT-Department, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Facial-Nerve-Center, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany; Center of Rare Diseases, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.

Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) is an established intervention for a range of muscular and neurological disorders that has already been studied in numerous publications. However, its application to Peripheral Facial nerve Paralysis (PFP) still needs to be sufficiently investigated. As the first approach known to the authors, this study examines the effect of FES on the facial muscles in complete PFP using ultrasonography as a means of observation. In a prospective single-center observational pilot study, ten patients with complete PFP, confirmed by needle-electromyography (EMG), performed FES of the affected lateral mouth region at home twice daily for 20 minutes. The facial muscles’ Cross-Sectional Area (CSA) was regularly assessed using sonographic quantification. While the CSA of most non-stimulated muscles decreased considerably during ongoing paralysis, a significant CSA increase of the Zygomaticus Muscle (ZYG), which was regularly subjected to FES, could be demonstrated. FES can halt the atrophy of denervated ZYG and potentially other facial muscles. Further investigations with a more significant patient collective are recommended. From now on, FES could be established as an additive method in the non-invasive treatment of PFP.

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How to Cite

Meincke, G., Krauß, J., Geitner, M., Kuttenreich, A.-M., Arnold, D., Ballmaier, J., Lehmann, T., Mayr, W., Guntinas-Lichius, O., & Volk, G. F. (2024). Deceleration of denervated facial muscle atrophy through functional electrical stimulation: a sonographic quantification in patients with facial nerve paralysis. European Journal of Translational Myology. https://doi.org/10.4081/ejtm.2024.13162
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