Percutaneous trigeminal ganglion compression for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia: report of two cases.

Percutaneous trigeminal ganglion compression for the relief of trigeminal neuralgia is a technically simple, non-painful procedure, carried out under brief general anesthesia. The patients could tolerate well during the treatment. The operation successful rate is high, and the procedure can be repeated at the next day if the symptom was not relieved. The procedure, in the present, is the first choice for those trigeminal neuralgia patients who are poor medical risks, those who are above the age of 65, those with demyelinating disease, and those who are unwilling to accept the increased risk of a posterior fossa craniectomy. We have successfully performed this procedure for two recurrent trigeminal neuralgia patients without any surgical complication. We propose this surgical treatment algorithm for trigeminal neuralgia patients who are not able to tolerate the medical treatment.