The Facial Paralysis Unit was established by the Otolaryngology, Maxillofacial Surgery, and Rehabilitation departments of La Paz University Hospital (Drs. Luis Lassaletta, Teresa González-Otero, and Susana Moraleda) to address the need for a multidisciplinary approach to treating complex facial paralysis patients. Over time, Ophthalmology, Neurophysiology, Neurosurgery, and Neuroradiology departments joined the initiative. This year, we celebrate the 22nd anniversary of the Unit's creation.

The last edition (6th) of the International Facial Paralysis Course was held from 15th to 17th February 2023 at La Paz University Hospital in Madrid, being the most significant course on this condition in Spain. For two and a half days, topics about facial paralysis were covered, from the basics to the advanced, including didactic lectures, expert panels, surgical and non-surgical workshops, and discussions of clinical cases.

Among nearly 200 participants, 55 international attendees from 22 countries joined the course, featuring world-renowned experts in facial paralysis such as Tessa Hadlock, Jackie Diels, and Carien Beurskens as part of the international faculty. Other invited speakers to previous editions have been Federico Biglioli, Miguel Aristegui, Daniel Labbe, Sylvie Testelin, Manuel Mañós, Letske Sieman, and Bernard Devauchelle among others.

This year, the 7th INTERNATIONAL COURSE “AN UPDATE ON FACIAL PARALYSIS” will be held as a pre-congress workshop of IFNS 2025.

The workshop will include comprehensive talks about the main aspects of facial nerve disorders, including:

• Do we really need a Facial Nerve Unit?
• Facial paralysis: The contribution of imagin
• The usefulness of electrophysiological tests for facial paralysis
• Facial reanimation in 2025: The “La Paz” approach
• How to deal with facial nerve tumors
• Surgical techniques both for nerve transfers and long-standing paralysis with specific physical therapy for each technique
• Non-surgical treatment of facial paralysis

Following the lectures, for one and a half hour, the audience will split to attend either the:

• Surgical Videos Session: Videos about specific surgical techniques will be shown, including facial nerve reconstruction, nerve transfers, gracilis muscle transpositions, and oculoplastic surgery.
• Rehabilitation Session: Topics like neuromuscular retraining and botulinum toxin injection will be covered.

Dedication:
The pre-congress workshop will be dedicated to the memory of Susana Moraleda, one of the founders of the Facial Nerve Unit who contributed greatly to its development and unfortunately passed away in late 2023.

The workshop is included in the IFNS 2025 fee.