Prevalence of trigeminal neuralgia in Indian population visiting a higher dental care center in Chennai – A retrospective study

Abstract

Introduction and Aim: Pain is one of the most common symptoms in orofacial region. One such pain is due to trigeminal neuralgia that shows impact on the patient’s quality of life. The aim and objective of the present study are to determine the most commonly involved branch and the affected side of the trigeminal nerve respectively. Materials and Methods: The present retrospective study involves 72 patients diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia and the data regarding the age of onset, gender, side of involvement and clinical presentations were retrieved from the clinical records of patients that have reported from October 2013 to October 2014. Results: Out of the 72 patients, males were 42(58.3%) and females were 30(41.7%). The study population was divided to three age groups ( 60 years). In the present study, in the age group of 41-60 years 55.5% i.e., 40 patients were seen. 38.8% of the study population was above 60 years of age. In our study, a total of 56 % (i.e., 40) patients showed involvement on right side and 44% patients on the left side. In our study, mandibular branch (V3) was the most commonly affected and involvement of all the three divisions V1, V2 and V3 was seen in 16(22.3%) of patients. Conclusion: Clinical similarities of trigeminal neuralgia that have an impact on different populations were demonstrated in this study. Further studies emphasizing the importance of correlation of gender with different age groups can be done. Keywords: Trigeminal neuralgia; prevalence; pain.