The role of percutaneous balloon compression in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia recurring after other surgical procedures

Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) recurring after surgery can be difficult to treat. Treatment algorithms have not been standardized or universally accepted. Here we investigated the effectiveness of percutaneous balloon compression (PBC) in the treatment of patients with TN recurrence after other surgical techniques and analyzed the role of some clinical and operative factors in determining the prognosis. The records of 22 patients (13 M and 9 F) suffering recurrent TN after one (2 gamma knife surgery, 5 percutaneous radiofrequency rhizotomy, 6 percutaneous retrogasserian glycerol rhizotomy, 3 microvascular decompression) or more (6 patients) procedures and submitted to PBC at our institution from January 2003 to February 2012 were reviewed. Seven patients had TN related to multiple sclerosis (MS). Mean follow-up was 51.81 ± 26.63 months. 81.81 % of patients reported an acute pain relief. No major complication was observed after PBC. Eight patients (36.36 %) experienced pain recurrence and underwent one (five patients) or more (three patients) PBC. At the last follow-up, we obtained an excellent outcome (BNI I–II) in 16 patients out of 22 (72.72 %) and a good outcome (BNI III) in the remaining six. No patients had an uncontrolled pain. The lack of history of MS (p = 0.0174), the pear-like shape of the balloon at the operation (p = 0.0234) and a compression time <5 min (p < 0.05) were associated to higher pain-free survival. Considering these results PBC could be considered a useful technique for patients whose pain recurs after other procedures.