Efficacy of peripheral glycerol injection in the management of trigeminal neuralgia

ABSTRACT

To evaluate the degree and duration of pain relief obtained with peripheral glycerol injection in patients with idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia. Interventional, Clinical trial. Fifty [50] medically resistant and non-surgically treated patients were selected. In the study group twenty five [25] patients received 1 ml glycerol injections in the involved peripheral nerve, after administration of local anaesthesia. The control group of twenty five [25] patients received 1 ml normal saline injections. All the patients [25] in the control group [normal saline] had no pain relief. Out of the 25 patients who received glycerol injections 24 [96%] patients had pain relief for 3 months. At six months nineteen [76%] patients had pain relief. At one-year follow up eleven patients [44%] continued to have pain relief. Another eleven [44%] patients were pain free with minimal dose of medication. There were no significant complications reported after the glycerol injections. The combination of efficacy and decreased morbidity makes peripheral glycerol injections a useful treatment modality for medically intractable Trigeminal Neuralgia patients