Mayo Clinic Study on Relieving Face Pain

A new Mayo Clinic study found that posterior fossa exploration surgery provided significantly better pain relief than stereotactic radiosurgery for patients with trigeminal neuralgia. This
study will be presented at the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting in
San Diego on May 5, 2009.
Trigeminal neuralgia is characterized by episodes of intense, stabbing, electric-shocklike pain in areas of the face which have branches of the trigeminal nerve (lips, eyes, nose, scalp, forehead, upper jaw and lower jaw). The trigeminal nerve carries sensation from the face to the brain. In trigeminal neuralgia, the nerve function is disrupted. Approximately 15,000 patients are diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia each year in the U.S.
Medical therapy eliminates or significantly reduces the pain for 75 percent of patients with trigeminal neuralgia, but the effectiveness generally decreases over time and surgery becomes necessary for patients to maintain their quality of life, says Bruce Pollock, M.D., a neurosurgeon at Mayo Clinic and the lead author of this study.

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Science & Technology

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• Mayo Clinic
• Trigeminal Neuralgia
• Pollock

[Buckoux]

TNA patients out there had better come to the realization that medical science does NOT KNOW what causes this pain. I have had TN for more than half my life and have had some of the less involved surgeries to no avail. If the present surgeries for TNA were pharmaceuticals instead and had to go through double blind clinical studies, the FDA would NOT approve them.

[Buckoux]

It's time to stop feeding the surgical medical mill until there is an actual breakthrough in the treatment of this condition. Until then, learn to get along with the anti-convulsants and pain medications. Find a physician who will help you learn to function with the minimum dosage of medications and make sure to get adequate sleep. That's how I've survived these 38 years with TNA. Stay away from these surgeries.

[Buckoux]

I suspect that the reported surgical successes are either the "placebo" effect or the patient telling the surgeon what he wants to hear just to get away from him. Am I right? Good luck to us all and Godspeed to the discovery of the real treatment for TN.

[genogeno1234]

I beg to differ with your description of the symptoms being on one side only, Noob. Most multiple sclerosis patients have TN on both sides. My original neurologist also believed in the Nooby version of TN being on one side and thought my extreme pain was something else. My current doctor said this is a myth that has persisted due to ignorance. So I gotta say, Dr. Noob, that so called "classic" TN doesn't necessarily exist, and you might oughta think about revising the intro.