ABSTRACT
AIM: To evaluate and compare the long-term efficacy and safety of microvascular decompression (MVD) and glossopharyngeal nerve roots rhizotomy (GNR) in the treatment of glossopharyngeal neuralgia (GN). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The data of 37 patients with glossopharyngeal neuralgia undergoing MVD alone and MVD + GNR from July 2004 to March 2017 were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: Efficacy: In the 22 cases of the MVD group, 19 cases were cured and 3 cases were improved. In the 15 cases of the MVD + GNR group, 14 cases were cured and 1 case improved. There was no significant difference between the two groups (chi-square test, p > 0.05). COMPLICATIONS: Postoperative complications in the MVD group: 2 patients had short-term hoarseness and drinking cough, 1 case had cerebrospinal fluid leakage, 1 case had intracranial infection, and 1 case had ipsilateral hearing loss, with no deaths. Postoperative complications in the MVD + GNR group: permanent hoarseness in 2 cases, short-term drinking cough and hoarseness in 4 cases, ipsilateral facial paralysis in 1 case, and cerebrospinal fluid leakage in 1 case, with no intracranial infection or death. The incidence of postoperative hoarseness and drinking cough in the MVD + GNR group was higher than that in the MVD group (chi-square test, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: MVD alone was a safe and effective method for the treatment of primary glossopharyngeal neuralgia. The efficacy was equivalent to MVD + GNR, and there was a lower incidence of hoarseness and drinking cough.
