Harrigan M R, Chandler W F
Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, USA.
Neurosurgery. 1998 Sep;43(3):623-5. doi: 10.1097/00006123-199809000-00134.
Abducens nerve palsy is a rare and reversible complication associated with percutaneous radiofrequency trigeminal rhizolysis.
An 86-year-old man developed an abducens nerve palsy immediately after undergoing percutaneous radiofrequency trigeminal rhizolysis for severe trigeminal neuralgia involving all three divisions of the trigeminal nerve. The palsy resolved spontaneously after 2 months.
This case, in combination with previous reports, suggests that cases of transient sixth nerve palsy associated with percutaneous radiofrequency trigeminal rhizolysis for trigeminal neuralgia are more likely to occur in elderly patients with ophthalmic division involvement.
