Türk Nöroşirürji Dergisi 2014 , Vol 24 , Num 2
Microvascular Decompression for Trigeminal Neuralgia
Alper TÜRKKAN1, M Özgür TAŞKAPILIOĞLU2, Ahmet BEKAR2
1Özel Medikabil Hastanesi, Bursa, Türkiye
2Uludağ Üniversitesi, Tıp Fakültesi, Beyin ve Sinir Cerrahisi Anabilim Dalı, Bursa, Türkiye
This retrospective study summarizes our experience based on treating 194 patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia treated with microvascular decompression. All patients had typical trigeminal neuralgia symptoms, with 32 of them (16.5%) having failed to benefit from other previous treatments. We excluded patients with atypical and/or secondary forms of trigeminal neuralgia. Follow-up duration ranged from 6 months to 7 years, with recurrence being identified in 15 patients (7.7%). The superior cerebellar artery is the leading off ending vessel in our cases (58.7%; 114 patients). No mortality was observed in our patients, and the only transient morbidity was facial nerve palsy (1.5%). We conclude that microvascular decompression and its reapplication for patients who showed no pain relief immediately after the first decompression are safe and eff ective treatments for trigeminal neuralgia. Anahtar Kelimeler : Trigeminal neuralgia, Microvascular decompression