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

Abstract 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.