Gasserian ganglion thermal radiofrequency and alcohol ablation

Abstract

Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) is a neuropathic, stabbing recurrent episode ofpain within the distribution of one or more branches of the trigeminalnerveaffecting the face.Trigeminal neuralgia is idiopathicin 50%of the patientsleading to focal demyelination andaberrantneuraldischarge.Treatment must be individualized to each patient. Carbamazepine remainsthe drug of choice and the first‐line treatment of TN but ineffective in 60%.Minimally invasive interventional pain therapies and surgery are possibleoptions when drug therapy fails. Patients with poor surgical risk may be moresuitable for other types of interventional therapy.A case of idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia in a 49 years old female, presentedwith a 20 years history of severe lancinating intermittent pain, not relived byoral medications. In our case we will discuss the role of radiofrequencytherapy in combination with alcohol ablation for this chronic pain and followup for 1 year duration.