Case report: successful treatment of a patient with trigeminal neuropathy using ziconotide.

A 50-year-old female patient with chronic neuropathic pain in the distribution of the second branch of the trigeminal nerve was unsuccessfully treated over several years. Intrathecal therapy with ziconotide was administered at an initial dose of 0.33 microg/d, which was gradually increased by 0.7 microg/d. Subjective pain on the numeric rating scale was reduced from 9/10 to 3-4/10 at a dose of 6.3 microg/d. Long-term treatment was continued at a ziconotide concentration of 12.5 microg/mL and a daily dose of 3.9 microg/d by a SynchroMed Infusion System (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN). Pain reduction was maintained in the follow-up observation period over 5 months.