Evaluation of the effects of personalized 3D-printed jig plate-assisted puncture in trigeminal balloon compression

Percutaneous microballoon compression (PMC) is a simple and effective surgical procedure for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia. The difficulty with this surgery is related to accurate and quick foramen ovale puncture. In this study, we compared the application of personalized 3D-printed guides and the traditional puncture method in trigeminal PMC surgery.

Data from 40 patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia treated with PMC between June 2017 and August 2019 were analyzed retrospectively. Personalized 3D-printed jigs were used to assist foramen ovale puncture in 20 patients, and Hartel positioning was used for puncture in 20 patients. Three-dimensional reconstruction was performed preoperatively using 3DSlicer software to understand the size of the foramen ovale and positioning of related anatomical structures. Based on the reconstruction, personalized surgical paths were created for the jig plate-assisted treatment group, and the printed jig plate was applied to the surgery through 3D printing to explore the surgical effect.

Foramen ovale puncture was successful in all patients. Better results were achieved with guides than with the traditional method in terms of the foramen ovale puncture time (p < 0.01), total operation time (p < 0.01), and number of computed tomography scans (p < 0.01). The efficacy of surgery and postoperative complications did not differ between groups (p = 1).

The use of personalized 3D-printed guides enables accurate puncture positioning in PMC, and improves the success rate of surgery, shortens the operation time, and reduces surgical risk, which has broad prospects in clinical application.