A prospective 15-year follow up of 154 consecutive patients with trigeminal neuralgia treated by percutaneous stereotactic radiofrequency thermal rhizotomy.

There is a lack of prospective studies for the long-term results of percutaneous stereotactic radiofrequency rhizotomy (PSR) in the treatment of patients with trigeminal neuralgia. The authors present results in 154 consecutive patients with trigeminal neuralgia treated by PSR and prospectively followed for 15 years. Ninety-nine percent of the patients obtained initial pain relief after one PSR. Dysesthesia occurred in 31 patients (23%): in 7% with mild initial hypalgesia; in 15% with dense hypalgesia; and in 36% with analgesia. Dysesthesia was mild and did not require treatment in most patients. The corneal reflex was absent or depressed in 29 patients, and keratitis developed in three patients. In 19 of 22 patients with trigeminal motor weakness, the paresis resolved within 1 year. Of 33 patients who had pain recurrence, 10 patients had pain that was mild or controlled with medications, and 23 patients required additional surgical treatment. The authors estimated using Kaplan-Meier analysis that the 14-year recurrence rate was 25% in the total group: 60% in patients with mild hypalgesia, 25% in those with dense hypalgesia, and 20% in those with analgesia. Timing of pain recurrence varied according to the degree of sensory loss. All pain recurrences in patients with mild hypalgesia occurred within 4 years after surgery; 10% more of the patients with dense hypalgesia had pain recurrences within the first 10 years compared with patients with analgesia. The median pain-free survival rate was 32 months for patients with mild hypalgesia and more than 15 years for patients with either analgesia or dense hypalgesia. Of the 100 patients followed for 15 years after one or two PSR procedures, 95 patients (95%) rated the procedure excellent (77 patients) or good (18 patients). The authors conclude that PSR is an effective, safe treatment for trigeminal neuralgia. Dense hypalgesia in the painful trigger zone, rather than analgesia, should be the target lesion.