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Treatment of idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia: comparison of long‐term outcome after radiofrequency rhizotomy and microvascular decompression. (Heidelberg College of Medicine, Heidelberg, Germany) Neurosurgery. 2001;48:1261–1267.
Author(s) -
Tronnier Volker M.,
Rasche Dirk,
Hamer Jürgen,
Kienle AnnaLena,
Kunze Stefan
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
pain practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1533-2500
pISSN - 1530-7085
DOI - 10.1046/j.1533-2500.2001.1039_40.x
Subject(s) - medicine , rhizotomy , trigeminal neuralgia , microvascular decompression , surgery , percutaneous , radiofrequency thermocoagulation , hypesthesia , anesthesia , neurosurgery , spinal cord , psychiatry
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long‐term outcome of patients after either percutaneous trigeminal rhizotomy or microvascular decompression (MVD) for idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia at a single institution. Overall, the results of the study showed that there was a 50% risk of recurrence of pain 2 years after percutaneous radiofrequency rhizotomy. Conversely, 64% of the patients who underwent MVD remained completely pain free 20 years postoperatively. Patients without sensory impairment after MVD were pain free significantly longer than patients who experienced postoperatively hypesthesia or partial rhizotomy. Conclude that because it is curative and nondestructive, MVD is considered the treatment of choice for trigeminal neuralgia in otherwise healthy people. In this study, it was proved to be a more effective and long‐lasting procedure for patients with typical trigeminal neuralgia than radiofrequency rhizotomy. Patients without postoperative sensory deficit remained pain free significantly longer, which is a strong argument against the “trauma” hypothesis of this procedure. Comment by Ron Pawl, M.D. This paper is noteworthy in that comparing the follow‐up on 225 of 378 patients who underwent microvascular decompression (MVD) with 206 of 316 who underwent radiofrequency thermocoagulation (RFT), the RFT group stood a 50% risk of recurrent pain by 2 years after the procedure, whereas 64% of those undergoing MVD were pain‐free after 20 years. Furthermore, after MVD, those patients with no postoperative sensory deficit, measured with von Frey hairs, remained pain‐free longer than those with a sensory deficit. This latter finding flies in the face of the concept that to be effective, surgery for trigeminal neuralgia must damage the nerve. The whole concept of RF lesioning of the nerve is to damage it enough to deaden the trigger zone of the affected nerve branch. However, in this study it is noted that postoperative hypesthesia was only temporary after RF lesioning, which might well explain the high rate of pain recurrence in this series. Although the long‐term pain relief in the MVD group is excellent, it must be weighed against the complications. In the MVD group, there were 3 mortalities, diminished hearing in 5%, loss of hearing in 2.6%, facial paralysis in 4 patients, and tinnitus in 4 patients, none of which occurred in the RF group.