Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 29, 2025
Microvascular Decompression: Salient Surgical Principles and Technical Nuances
Published on: July 5, 2011
Factors that may affect recurrence of trigeminal neuralgia after percutaneous balloon compression
Wenming Lv1, Wenjing Hu2, Lingyi Chi3
1Department of Neurosurgery, Qilu Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China; Department of Neurosurgery, First People's Hospital of Ningyang County, Tai'an, Shandong, China.
Objective:
To investigate the efficacy of percutaneous balloon compression of the Gasserian Ganglion (PCGG) in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia(TN)and the influencing factors of recurrence after PCGG.
Methods:
The clinical data of 221 patients with TN treated by PCGG were retrospectively analyzed and followed-up to explore the postoperative efficacy.
Results:
There were 158 cases of immediate disappearance of pain and 59 cases of delayed pain disappearance in patients after one PCGG operation, for an overall efficacy rate of 98.2%. Forty-nine patients experienced recurrence of pain, for a recurrence rate of 22.6%, and average recurrence time of 18 months. The effective rate of medication in patients with recurrent trigeminal neuralgia is 85.7%.Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that hypertension disease and delayed pain disappearance were independent factors for recurrence. The incidence of inhibitory reaction of the trigeminal nerve during the operation was 97.3%. The most common postoperative complications were facial numbness, masticatory-muscle weakness, tinnitus, diplopia and keratitis, which occurred at rates of 76.9%, 28.1%, 14.5%, 11.8% and 10.4%, respectively. All of the complications resolved within 3 years after PCGG.
Conclusions:
PCGG is a safe and effective surgical method for the treatment of TN. The pain in most patients disappeared after surgery, leaving sequelae such as facial numbness, masticatory-muscle weakness and tinnitus. The mean time to recurrence of postoperative pain was 18 months, with hypertension disease and delayed pain disappearance as associated factors.
