[The effectiveness of microvascular decompression in various types of vascular compression in patients with...

The aim of the work was to evaluate the efficacy of microvascular decompression (MVD) in different types of vascular compression (VC) in 20 patients with the idiopathic form of trigeminal neuralgia (TN). The typical VC was found in 17 cases. An arterial vessel was the cause of VC in 6 cases, a venous vessel in 5. The mixed type of VC was present in 6 cases. In every case of the mixed VC one of the vessels compressing the 5th nerve predominated: arterial in 5 and venous in 1. In 3 cases of TN no VC was found. Observation time after MVD was from 6 to 61 months (median 26.7 months). In the TN patients with the arterial VC (including the mixed VC with the arterial predominance) pain relief was complete in 7 cases, satisfactory in 2 and none in 1 case. In patients with venous VC (including mixed VC with venous predominance) pain relief was complete in 4 cases and satisfactory in 2. In the TN patients without VC pain relief was satisfactory in 1, unsatisfactory in 1 and none in 1 case. Long term results of MVD in the analyzed series of the TN patients confirm the efficacy of MVD when vascular compression of the 5th nerve--either arterial or venous--is found intraoperatively.