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Updated: Jul 6, 2025
Microvascular Decompression: Salient Surgical Principles and Technical Nuances
Published on: July 5, 2011
Fully endoscopic far-lateral supracerebellar infratentorial approach for trigeminal neuralgia: illustrative case
Hong Yao1, Wenlei Yang1, Hao Tang1
1Department of Neurosurgery, Center of Pituitary Tumor, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 197# Ruijin Er Road, Shanghai, 200025, China.
Background:
Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a common cause of craniofacial pain. The retrosigmoid approach is usually used to treat TN, but no cases of endoscopic far-lateral supracerebellar infratentorial approach (EF-SCITA) were used to undergo operation for TN.
Case Presentation:
Two patients were presented with severe facial pain and preliminary diagnosis was TN. Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging revealed that a superior cerebellar artery (SCA) compressed the trigeminal nerve in case 1, and a tumor located in the petrous apex extending into the Meckel's cave compressed the trigeminal nerve in case 2. Operations were achieved through the EF-SCITA. The pain was totally relieved with no postsurgical complications in both cases.
Conclusions:
We present the first two case reports of EF-SCITA to relieve classical and secondary TN successfully. The EF-SCITA can be a promising approach for treating TN.
