Long-Term Follow-up of Patients Treated with Percutaneous Balloon Compression for Trigeminal Neuralgia in Taiwan

ObjectiveThis study aimed to evaluate the outcomes and complication rates associated with percutaneous balloon compression (PBC) for trigeminal neuralgia for a 10-year follow-up period.MethodsA total of 185 patients with trigeminal neuralgia were treated with an initial PBC between July 2000 and December 2001 and were followed up until July 2010. PBC was performed under general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation. Meckel's cave was cannulated with a No. 4 Fogarty catheter, and the balloon was inflated for 70–90 seconds.ResultsTreatment and long-term follow-up was completed for 130 of the 185 patients. The mean length of the follow-up period was 8.9 years. Sixty-two patients (47.7%) were 65 years of age or older. Seventy-eight patients (60%) had pain involving the ophthalmic or multiple trigeminal divisions. One hundred twenty-two patients (93.8%) experienced immediate relief from neuralgia after the procedure. No pain recurred within 3 months. Seventeen patients (14%) had recurrent symptoms within 2 years. Twenty-three patients (18.9%) had recurrent symptoms within 3 years. Thirty-six patients (29.5%) had recurrent symptoms within 5 years. A total of 46 patients (37.7%) had recurrent symptoms during the entire study period.ConclusionsPBC is a technically simple, less painful procedure carried out under brief general anesthesia and is well tolerated by patients. The operation success rate is high, and the recurrence rate is similar to that of other reports. We also found that longer compression time resulted in longer symptom-free periods.