The surgical procedure was completed in all cases, with only minor intraoperative divergence from the CT-based planning and no postoperative complications. The average improvement of the SRT in quiet with the BB in comparison to the unaided condition was 36.25 dB. All the implanted subjects reached SRT values below 65 dB, indicating a better understanding in quiet, with 100% word recognition.

Patients belonging to the rehabilitation group clearly showed an overall improvement of clinical stage at the planned final observation, i.e. 15 days after onset of facial palsy, without presenting greater values of CMAP.

Patients who were preliminarily treated with BTX-A in the affected area showed a 2.1 improvement of score on the SunnyBrook scale (p < 0.001), with significantly better results in comparison to the non-BTX-A group.

None of the patients presented with a FN deficit in the first postoperative days. In three patients (8.8%), FN palsy developed after 7 days (two patients) and 10 days (one patient), and the severities were HB 4 (two cases) and HB 5 (one case). All patients fully recovered (HB 1) after 6-8 weeks. In 10 of the 34 implanted subjects (29.4%), taste disturbances were found on postoperative day 1, and these impairments remained in only 6 (17.6%) patients at the 3-month postoperative follow-up.

Conclusion: When applied at an early stage, Kabat's rehabilitation was shown to provide a better and faster recovery rate in comparison with non-rehabilitated patients. Objective: To assess the validity of an early rehabilitative approach to Bell's palsy patients. Patients and methods: A randomized study involved 20 consecutive patients (10 males, 10 females; aged 35Á42 years) affected by Bell's palsy, classified according to the House-Brackmann (HB) grading system and grouped on the basis of undergoing or not early physical rehabilitation according to Kabat, i.e. a proprioceptive neuromuscular rehabilitation. The evaluation was carried out by measuring the amplitude of the compound motor action potential (CMAP), as well as by observing the initial and final HB grade, at days 4, 7 and 15 after onset of facial palsy. Results: Patients belonging to the rehabilitation group clearly showed an overall improvement of clinical stage at the planned final observation, i.e. 15 days after onset of facial palsy, without presenting greater values of CMAP.