Therapeutic Outcome and Future Scopes in the Management of Trigeminal Neuralgia

Abstract

Trigeminal neuralgia (TGN) is an elusive medical condition with debilitating consequences. Treatment options for TGN have evolved and improved over the years; however, many existing drugs and percutaneous procedures have variable efficacy and recurrence is possible in many patients. Many new molecules acting on novel pain targets are being studied, which are in pre-clinical, or early clinical development phases. Various surgical therapies have been tried for the management of drug-resistant TGN. Among them, microvascular decompression (MVD) is performed to address the primary problem of aberrant vascular loops impinging on the trigeminal nerve. On the other hand, percutaneous destructive procedures aim at reducing the overall sensory input from the trigeminal ganglion.