What are the key investigations that should be performed on patients prior to surgery?
Dr. Azizzadeh: The underlying cause of facial paralysis needs to be uncovered. I’ve seen many patients in my practice THAT had been falsely diagnosed with “Bells Palsy” butturned OUT to have other more serious underlying conditions such as acoustic neuroma or parotid tumors. One should do imaging studies to make sure there’s no tumor or growths, an electromyopathy (EMG) to evaluate the nerve input and the muscle action. You want to see what’s really going on. You also want to see if there is any underlying tone to the facial muscles which will help us determine the appropriate operation for the patient.
