Trigeminal neuralgia affects 1 person in 25,000, almost always over the age of 50. In 70% of cases it is a compression of a nerve by an artery that creates a conflict with the trigeminal nerve and inflames it, damaging the myelin sheath covering it and causing the very pain that characterizes the symptoms.
One of the symptoms of trigeminal neuralgia is very well known and recognizable: pain, very violent, sudden and very short, repeated every few minutes or hours, is indeed very characteristic. This pain also affects a specific area: it is limited to half of the face, affecting the middle and lower part of the face. These signs often help your doctor to guide him/her.
There is little that can be done during the pain attacks. Pharmacological therapies usually serve to prevent attacks. Drugs can resolve about 30% of the cases; In all others, the side effects outweigh the benefits after a few years and an operation is needed. Many of the operations, including vascular decompression, radiosurgery, percutaneous procedures, all have a different degree of effectiveness, often only temporary. These methods can be repeated several times, but they can also cause loss of sensitivity in the innervated area.
Unlike these operations, selective trigeminal neurology with fluoroscopy is an operation that has always been effective and requires the patient only the patience to spend one night at the clinic. Through the use of special radiographic imaging and a special needle, in fact, it is possible to free the nerve, with extreme safety and precision, at no risk, from all compressions that are at the root of the neuralgia. A safe, accurate and always effective surgery regardless of the patient’s age.
For more information, please contact us through our dedicated page. You can request free telephone advice and book a visit to the Delfino Medical Studio.
