Open AccessTreatment of Trigeminal Neuralgia with “Microvascular Decompression Plus” Technique
Author(s) -
Mingxing Liu,
Jun Zhong,
Lei Xia,
Ning-Ning Dou,
Jingxue Shi
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of neurological surgery. part b, skull base
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.488
H-Index - 42
eISSN - 2193-6331
pISSN - 2193-634X
DOI - 10.1055/s-0040-1710520
Subject(s) - microvascular decompression , medicine , trigeminal neuralgia , neurolysis , surgery , trigeminal nerve , decompression , cure rate , anesthesia
Objective Although microvascular decompression (MVD) has been widely accepted as an effective treatment of trigeminal neuralgia (TN), some patients have not been cured. To improve the postoperative outcome, the surgical procedure should be further refined. Design This is a retrospective study. Setting Present study conducted at a cranial nerve disorder center. Participants Clinical data were collected from patients with TN who had undergone surgery in our center, including 685 who had undergone traditional MVD and 576 who had undergone the "MVD plus" procedure, in which any vessel attached to the trigeminal nerve was freed away ("nerve-combing"), which was followed by intraoperative neurolysis. Main Outcome Measures Postoperative outcomes and complications in the two groups were compared. Results Among patients who underwent traditional MVD, the rates of immediate relief and 1-year relief were 89.9 and 86.9%, respectively; among patients who underwent MVD plus group, these rates were 95.1 and 94.6%, respectively ( p = 0.05). Patients who underwent MVD plus initially exhibited a higher rate of facial numbness ( p < 0.05), but this finding decreased over time and reached the same level as that in the traditional MVD group within 3 months ( p > 0.05). Conclusion Sufficient MVD with nerve-combing for the treatment of TN may produce a high rate of cure with less recurrence.