Effectiveness of gamma knife treatment in patients affected by idiopathic recurrent trigeminal neuralgia.

INTRODUCTION

Gamma Knife Surgery (GNS) is one of the many techniques used to treat the idiopathic form of trigeminal neuralgia (TN). The aim of this review is to analyse the effectiveness of treatment with GNS in patients affected by recurrent TN.

DEVELOPMENT: a literature search conducted using MEDLINE, CINAHL, and Scopus in January of 2013 yielded 125 results. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected16 articles evaluating the effectiveness of GNS for reducing symptoms in patients with recurrent TN. Assessment criteria were degree of pain, time to pain relief, pain maintenance, and disease recurrence after the procedure.

CONCLUSIONS

GNS is considered a non-invasive, safe, and effective treatment for patients with idiopathic TN refractory to medication and surgery. It is currently considered the most advanced means of treating this disease.