Percutaneous Balloon Compression for the Treatment of Recurrent Trigeminal Neuralgia: Long-Term Outcome in 29 Patients

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the long-term clinical outcomes and complication rates associated with percutaneous balloon compression (PBC) of the trigeminal ganglion in patients with recurrent trigeminal neuralgia (TN) who were treated surgically with procedures other than PBC. Methods: In this retrospective study, the authors reviewed the results of 29 patients who underwent 41 PBC procedures for recurrent TN between 1998 and 2006. Results: The overall mean length of follow-up was 49 months (range 1–101). Pain relief was immediate in 24 (83%) patients. There was no pain relief in 5 patients (17%). 2 patients were lost to follow-up. 12 (54.5%) of 22 patients remained pain-free during a mean follow-up period of 65 months (range 40–101). The other 10 patients (45.5%) who had immediate pain relief experienced recurrent pain, with a mean time to recurrence of 7.3 months (17 days to 38 months). PBC was repeated in 11 patients, and was performed a third time in 2 patients. Morbidities included minor dysesthesia (2 patients), masseter weakness (2 patients), corneal anesthesia (1 patient), anesthesia dolorosa (1 patient), and subarachnoid hemorrhage (1 patient with history of multiple myeloma). Conclusion: PBC is a useful treatment for patients with recurrent TN who have already been treated surgically. Long-term relief of pain in this subset of TN patients is achieved nearly half of the time with side-effect profiles similar to those reported in published data.