A Bell’s Palsy Case Probably Related to Sertraline Use

Bell’s palsy is a peripheral facial nerve dysfunction that presents clinically as acute, unilateral partial, or complete paralysis of the face and is primarily idiopathic in origin.1 While the etiology is unclear, anatomical, viral infectious, ischemic, inflammatory, and cold exposure theories for Bell’s palsy have been proposed.2 According to a phase-IV clinical study of FDA data, there are 22 Bell’s palsy cases reported during sertraline use between the years 1998 and 2022.3 In the literature, there are two reported cases of Bell’s palsy related to combination treatment with sertraline and quetiapine.4 Here we present a Bell’s palsy case that developed two months after starting a low dosage of sertraline.