Trigeminal neuralgia: clinical evaluation of different approaches of treatment

ABSTRACT

The etiology and treatment of trigeminal neuralgia is not fully understood. It is a disease that is difficult to be analyzed due to its complexity. A series of 13 patients with typical trigeminal neuralgia was reported. Evaluation of the therapeutic management by tegretol compared with alcohol injection and avulsion of the mental and infraorbital nerve was critically appraised. Although the number of cases is too small to draw definite conclusion [contrary to priori expectations], tegretol is not a panacea for the problem of pain in trigeminal neuralgia.The average duration of pain following alcohol injection of the peripheral ramification of the trigeminal nerve amounted to 20 months. The duration of freedom from pain following peripheralneurectomywaslonger than that following alcohol