Ruiquan Liu,1,2,* Zhu Deng,1,2,* Li Zhang,1,2 Yin Liu,2,3 Zheng Wang,2,3 Yanbing Yu1,2



1Graduate School of Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Neurosurgery, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, People’s Republic of China; 3Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, People’s Republic of China



*These authors contributed equally to this work



Correspondence: Yanbing Yu

Department of Neurosurgery, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, No. 2 Yinghua Dongjie, Hepingli, Chaoyang District, Beijing, People’s Republic of China

Tel +86 139 01114963

Fax +86 10 64217749

Email yuyanbing1111@sina.com



Purpose: Microvascular decompression (MVD) and MVD combined with partial sensory rhizotomy (PSR) are effective surgical treatments for idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia (TN). The aim of this study was to compare the long-term outcomes of both MVD and MVD+PSR for the treatment of TN and to identify the factors that may influence the long-term outcomes after MVD or MVD+PSR.

Patients and Methods: From March 2009 to December 2017, 99 patients with idiopathic TN who underwent MVD or MVD+PSR in our hospital (40 MVD, 59 MVD+PSR) were included in the study. The indications for MVD+PSR were as follows: vessels only contacted the nerve root, absence of arterial conflict, or failing to completely decompress from the arteries or veins. All patients were treated by one neurosurgeon and were followed up for at least 1 year. The outcomes were assessed with the Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) Pain Intensity Scale.

Results: The average follow-up duration was 63.0 months (range, 13.2– 118.8 months). Patients in the MVD group were younger than those in the MVD+PSR group (55.1 years and 60.5 years, respectively, P=0.012). A total of 62.5% of the patients in the MVD group and 69.5% of the patients in the MVD+PSR group had favorable long-term outcomes. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed no significant difference in long-term outcomes between the two groups (P=0.202). No factors were associated with long-term outcomes after MVD. For MVD+PSR, a long duration of the disease (odds ratio (OR) 6.967, P=0.016) was associated with unfavorable long-term outcomes, whereas pure arterial compression (OR 0.131, P=0.013) was associated with favorable long-term outcomes.

Conclusion: For patients who are not suitable to undergo pure MVD, MVD+PSR can be used as an effective alternative. For MVD+PSR, patients with a long duration of symptoms may have poor long-term outcomes, while patients with pure arterial compression may have favorable long-term outcomes.



Keywords: trigeminal neuralgia, microvascular decompression, partial sensory rhizotomy, long-term outcome, factors

