A Cochrane review «Antiviral therapy for Ramsay Hunt syndrome (herpes zoster oticus with facial palsy) in adults»1 «Uscategui T, Dorée C, Chamberlain IJ, Burton MJ. Antiviral therapy for Ramsay Hunt syndrome (herpes zoster oticus with facial palsy) in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2008 Oct 8;(4):CD006851. »1 included 1 low-quality study with a total of 15 subjects. All participants received intravenous corticosteroids (methylprednisolone 20 mg/8 hours for 10 days). Seven participants only received this treatment (control group) whilst eight (the treatment group) received in addition intravenous acyclovir (10 mg/kg/8h for 10 days). No statistically significant difference between the two groups was found.
Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by imprecise results (very few patients and wide confidence intervals) and by study quality (lack of blinding).