An evaluation of sensory changes and pain relief in trigeminal neuralgia following intracranial microvascular decompression and/or trigeminal glycerol rhizotomy.

Nineteen patients with trigeminal neuralgia were treated with either trigeminal ganglion glycerolysis or glycerolysis and intracranial microvascular decompression. All had a good degree of pain relief. Of those receiving glycerol alone (group A), 50% subjectively reported a mild reduction of fine tactile sensation. A similar response was reported by those treated with both glycerol and decompression (group B). The degree of sensory loss was so mild that thermal testing was useless as a discriminatory tool. The degree of sensory loss was not greater when both surgical procedures were performed than when the less-invasive trigeminal ganglion glycerolysis alone was used.