The Efficiency of Established Diagnostic and Therapeutic Approaches in the Treatment of Trigeminal Neuralgia

Purpose of Review

The research aims to determine the effectiveness of the main approaches in the diagnosis and treatment of trigeminal neuralgia. Analysis, synthesis, comparison, and generalisation were used as methods of studying the object of research.

Recent Findings

According to the results of the study, the most effective method of diagnosis was found to be examination and history taking. Correct performance of these actions allows to find out whether the nature of the patient’s pain is a symptom of trigeminal neuralgia. For this purpose, the location, nature, and triggering factors of the pain are determined. At the same time, pain characteristics are compared to exclude other diseases that are also accompanied by pain in the face. Among the instrumental diagnostic methods, magnetic resonance imaging has proven to be the most effective, allowing to determine the form of neuralgia and its causes. To determine the effectiveness of treatment methods, the parameters of pain relief rate, duration of the therapeutic effect and the presence of side effects were used. The most effective approach in the conservative treatment of trigeminal neuralgia was determined to be a complex drug therapy, including anticonvulsants, muscle relaxants, antispasmodics, and physiotherapy procedures. The most effective method of surgical intervention is microvascular decompression, which provides immediate pain relief in most cases and has the longest-lasting effect compared to other methods.

Summary

Rhizotomy was defined as a less effective procedure, but its advantage was its minimally invasive nature. Even though trigeminal neuralgia is a recurrent disease, the right treatment approach can maximise the duration of remission and return the patient to a normal lifestyle.