ORAL PRESENTATION

Franz Babl, David Herd, Meredith Borland, Amit Kochar, Ben Lawton, Jason Hort, Adam West, Shane George, Michael Zhang, Karthik Velusamy, Frank Sullivan, Ed Oakley, Andrew Davidson, Sandy Hopper, John Cheek, Robert Berkowitz, Stephen Hearps, Catherine Wilson, Amanda Williams, Hannah Elborough, Donna Legge, Mark Mackay, Katherine Lee, Stuart Dalziel Emergency Dept, Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), Parkville, Australia; Dept of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; Dept of Critical Care, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; Emergency Dept, Queensland Children’s Hospital, Brisbane, Australia; University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia; Mater Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia; Emergency Dept, Perth Children’s Hospital, Perth, Australia; Div of Emergency Medicine and Paeds, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia; Emergency Dept, Women’s and Children’s Hospital, Adelaide, Australia; Emergency Dept, Logan Hospital, Brisbane, Australia; Emergency Dept, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia; Emergency Dept, Monash Medical Centre, Clayton, Australia; Dept of Emergency Medicine, Gold Coast University Hospital, Southport, Australia; School of Medicine and Menzies Health Institute, Griffith University, Southport, Australia; Child Health Research Centre, the University of Queensland, South Brisbane, Australia; Emergency Dept, John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, Australia; Emergency Dept, Townsville Hospital, Townsville, Australia; James Cook University College of Medicine and Dentistry, Townsville, Australia; University of St Andrews, School of Medicine, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; North York General Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada; Dept of Anaesthesia, Royal Children’s Hospital, Parkville, Australia; Dept of Otolaryngology, Royal Children’s Hospital, Parkville, Australia; Pharmacy Dept, Royal Children’s Hospital, Parkville, Australia; Dept of Neurology, Royal Children’s Hospital, Parkville, Australia; Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Parkville, Australia; Children’s Emergency Dept, Starship Children’s Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand; Dept of Surgery and Paediatrics, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. Background: Corticosteroids can be used to treat idiopathic facial paralysis (Bell’s palsy) in children, but their effectiveness is uncertain. Aim: To determine if prednisolone improves recovery of children with Bell’s palsy at 1 month. Method: Double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, trial of prednisolone in children presenting to ED with Bell’s palsy. Patients 6 months to <18 years, recruited <72 h after symptom onset, were randomly assigned to receive 10 days of treatment with oral prednisolone (1 mg/kg) or placebo. The primary outcome: complete recovery of facial function at 1 month on the House–Brackmann scale. Secondary outcomes: facial function, adverse events and pain to 6 months. Results: Between October 2015 to August 2020, 187 children were randomised (94 to prednisolone and 93 to placebo) and included in the intention-to-treat analysis (Table 1). At 1 month, the proportions of patients who had recovered facial function were 49% (n = 43/87) in the prednisolone group compared with 57% (n = 50/87) in the placebo group (risk difference −8.1%, 95% CI −22.8 to 6.7; adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.7, 95% CI 0.4–