This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery in the College of Medical Sciences, Chitwan, Nepal from 1st March, 2018 to 1st March, 2020. Ethical approval was taken from Institutional Review Board (Ref. No: 2020-046). Patients visiting the ENT out-patient department (OPD) were included in the study.
All participants gave a written informed consent. House-Brackmann (HB) grading system was used to subdivide BP patients as per the severity of facial palsy. The demographic features like age and sex of the patients were also recorded. Complete blood count was determined. Total leukocytes, neutrophils, lymphocytes and platelets counts were used to calculate PLR and NLR values. Convenience sampling was done.
One hundred and seventeen Bell’s palsy (BP) patients were included in the study. In Bell’s palsy patients, NLR and PLR values were calculated. An observation between the NLR and PLR values of patients with Bell’s palsy and the people with intact facial nerve function was then made. The latter group had neither active ear disease nor facial nerve pathology and they came for preoperative evaluation in ENT OPD for septoplasty or myringoplasty surgery. Other conditions of facial paralysis like trauma, Ramsey-Hunt syndrome and tumoral masses were excluded. Diseases conditions which could affect NLR and PLR, such as active ear infection, renal failure, liver disease, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, neurological diseases, or neoplasm were also excluded. House-Brackmann (HB) grading system was used to subdivide BP patients as per the severity of facial palsy All BP patients were treated with steroids, antiviral medication and physical therapy.
Statistical analyses
Data entry and analysis was done in the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows, version 20.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Descriptive statistics were represented by mean ± standard deviation, and the categorical variables were presented as the number of the cases and percentage. Normality was checked using Shapiro-Wilk test. Chi-square test was used to analyze categorical variables and student t-test was used to analyze continuous variables. The relationship between the severity of Bell’s palsy and NLR and PLR values was assessed using Coefficient of Variation test. p < 0.05 value was considered significant.