Microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia

Summary An analysis of 57 patients with trigeminal neuralgia (TN) treated with microvascular decompression (MVD) is presented. Mean follow-up time was 3.1 years. Vascular compression of the trigeminal nerve root was noted in 54 cases. In the remaining 3 patients, adhesions were observed in two, whereas no obvious cause was found in one case.Among the patients with vascular compression, 43 (80%) became painfree immediately after surgery, and have remained so during the observation period. There was an indisputable relationship between the degree of observed vascular compression of the nerve and longterm complete pain relief. There was no mortality in association with the surgery. Major morbidity was seen in 3.6%, and partial facial sensory loss was seen in seven patients (12%). The implications of these findings are discussed.