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Updated: Jun 1, 2026
Subcutaneous Trigeminal Nerve Field Stimulation for Refractory Facial Pain
Published on: May 10, 2017
Outcome for patients with essential trigeminal neuralgia treated with linear accelerator stereotactic radiosurgery
Marcos Antonio Dos Santos1, José Bustos Pérez de Salcedo, José Angel Gutiérrez Diaz
1Radiotherapy Department, Instituto Madrileño de Oncologia/Grupo IMO, Hospital General Universitario Gregório Marañon, Madrid, Spain. marcosrxt@gmail.com
Background:
Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is one option for treatment of trigeminal neuralgia, after unsuccessful conservative approaches.
Objectives:
The objective of this study was to retrospectively evaluate our institutional results in the management of patients with idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia treated with linear accelerator SRS.
Methods:
Fifty-two patients were treated between January 1998 and December 2009 and were followed for more than 6 months (median: 26.6 months). Forty-seven patients (90%) had undergone previous surgery before SRS. The target dose ranged from 50 to 80 Gy.
Results:
After SRS, 9 patients presented complete remission of the pain, and 21 were pain free but still under medication. Eleven patients reported a relief of more than 50% in crisis frequency. In 9 patients, no significant improvements were seen, and 2 presented an exacerbation of the pain. After an average period of 20 months, 15 patients reported pain recurrence. Results were better in patients older than 60 years (p = 0.019). Nineteen patients presented facial numbness after SRS, with a trend toward favorable treatment response (p = 0.06).
Conclusion:
SRS is an effective alternative to the treatment of essential trigeminal neuralgia, with long-lasting pain relief in more than 50% of the patients. Better results were seen with patients aged more than 60 years.
