Microsurgical treatment of trigeminal neuralgia

ABSTRACT

Sixteen cases of trigeminal neuralgia were exploredatthe cerebellopontine angles using the operating microscope. Two cases of cholesteatomas were discovered.Ineightcases, microvascular decompression of the trigeminal nerve was done using muscle, gelfoam or teflon.Four cases were treated by partial rhizotomy.In two cases, there was difficulty in the exposure. Thirteen patients were free of pain following operation, one had moderate recurrence and two experienced recurrence of the original pain. The procedure proved to be satisfactory in treating cases of trigeminal neuralgia