Do Antiviral Medications Improve Recovery in Patients With Bell's Palsy?

MethodsData SourcesElectronic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, LILACS, and Cochrane Neuromuscular Disease Group Trials register. Hand search of bibliographies of included trials. Contacted clinical experts and drug companies for unpublished data. Search current to December 2008.Study SelectionTwo authors independently assessed trials for inclusion, with 100% agreement. Only randomized, controlled trials of antivirals with or without corticosteroids were included.Data Extraction and SynthesisAssessment of bias was conducted according to prespecified Cochrane methods (eg, blinding, data reporting). For meta-analysis, a random-effects model was used when substantial heterogeneity was identified; otherwise, a fixed-effects model was used to combine data. All included studies randomized patients and used a control group for comparison. Blinding of patients and assessors was incomplete across included studies.