School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK.
Bradford Institute for Health Research, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Bradford, UK.
J Headache Pain. 2020 Jul 17;21(1):91. doi: 10.1186/s10194-020-01156-9.
Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is an orofacial condition defined by reoccurring, spontaneous, short-lived but excruciating stabbing pain. Pharmacological interventions constitute the first-line treatment for TN, with antiepileptic drugs commonly prescribed. People treated for TN pain with antiepileptic drugs describe cognitive and motor difficulties affecting activities of daily living, and report poorer quality of life. We undertook the first comprehensive objective evaluation of sensorimotor and cognitive performance in participants being treated for TN pain with antiepileptic drugs relative to age-matched controls.
Participants (43 TN, 41 control) completed a battery of sensorimotor (steering, aiming and tracking) and cognitive (working memory, processing speed, inhibition) tasks.
The TN group performed significantly worse than controls on the sensorimotor tracking and aiming tasks and across all cognitive measures.
The data explain why patients treated with antiepileptic drugs report impairment when conducting activities of daily living (given the need for cognitive and motor capability within most of these). The study is an important first step in: (i) ensuring there is adequate information on the impact of pharmacological treatment; (ii) identifying measures to determine optimal medication dosage and track change over time; (iii) creating an evidence base that could allow scientific justification of alternative pain treatment options for TN (e.g. the costs/benefits of surgery).
三叉神经痛（TN）是一种以反复发作、自发性、短暂但剧痛为特征的面痛。药物干预是 TN 的一线治疗方法，通常开处方使用抗癫痫药。用抗癫痫药治疗 TN 疼痛的人描述了影响日常生活活动的认知和运动困难，并报告生活质量较差。我们首次对接受抗癫痫药治疗 TN 疼痛的参与者与年龄匹配的对照组进行了全面的感觉运动和认知表现评估。
参与者（43 名 TN，41 名对照）完成了一系列感觉运动（转向、瞄准和跟踪）和认知（工作记忆、处理速度、抑制）任务。
TN 组在感觉运动跟踪和瞄准任务以及所有认知测量上的表现明显差于对照组。
这些数据解释了为什么接受抗癫痫药物治疗的患者在进行日常生活活动时会报告出现障碍（因为这些活动大多需要认知和运动能力）。该研究是在以下方面迈出的重要第一步：（i）确保有关于药物治疗影响的充分信息；（ii）确定评估最佳药物剂量和跟踪随时间变化的措施；（iii）建立一个证据基础，使替代 TN 疼痛治疗选择（例如手术的成本/效益）具有科学依据。
