Outcomes of Percutaneous Balloon Compression for Idiopathic Trigeminal Neuralgia in 80 Patients

Jin, Seon-Tak; Lee, Myung-Ki; Park, Jae-Sung; Kim, Jeong-Ho; Kim, Yun-Suk

Original article

Journal of the Korean Society of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery 2012;8(2):88-92.
Published online September 30, 2012.

Outcomes of Percutaneous Balloon Compression for Idiopathic Trigeminal Neuralgia in 80 Patients

Seon-Tak Jin, Myung-Ki Lee, Jae-Sung Park, Jeong-Ho Kim, Yun-Suk Kim

Department of Neurosurgery, Maryknoll Medical Center, Busan, Korea

Abstract

Objective
The aim of this study was to investigate retrospectively outcomes and complication rates associated with percutaneous balloon compression of the trigeminal ganglion in 80 patients with idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia.
Methods
The mean follow-up period was 65 months (range 12–118). The mean age was 66.5 years (range 27–91). PBC was performed under general anesthesia. The balloon was inflated by injecting radio-contrast media 0.5 to 1.0 ml in amount using a No. 4 Forgarty catheter. The mean inflating time was 73 seconds (range 45–120). Mean whole procedure time was 20 minutes (range 15-90). Most patients (85%) were discharged postoperatively within two days.
Results
We reported excellent and good results in 65% of the cases, poor in 5% as annoying dysesthesia, recurrence in 24%, and 6% failure due to technical deficiencies. Seventy-one patients (89%) experienced immediate relief from neuralgia after the procedure. The mean time until recurrence was 21months. There were permanent motor weakness of the masseter muscle in 3% of patients and transitory diplopia in 5%.
Conclusion
This study shows PBC would be an effective method with a technically simple, less painful procedure carried out under brief general anesthesia and is well tolerated by patients in the treatment of idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia refractory to medical treatment.

Key Words: Idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia, Percutaneous balloon compression.