Dr. Abhaya Kumar | Percutaneous Balloon compression treatment for Trigeminal Neuralgia

    A 87 year old women suffering from left Trigeminal Neuralgia for last 10 years was admitted with us recently. She had tried conservative treatment with medicines. She had relief with medicines for 8 yrs, but since last 2 yrs the medicines were not giving her relief of pain.

    She was seen by Dr Abhaya Kumar, Consultant Neurosurgeon at KDAH. Gold standard surgical treatment for Trigeminal Neuralgia is Microvascular decompression of trigeminal nerve. Since this patient was elderly and not fit for open surgical treatment we decided to do percutaneous balloon compression of trigeminal nerve after discussion with the patient and her relative. This procedure was done successfully and patient had excellent relief of pain. Balloon compression treatment for Trigeminal neuralgia is a simple day case procedure done under local anesthesia or mild sedation. Success rate is around 90% with this procedure.