title: [Neurovascular decompression in trigeminal neuralgia. Analysis of 70 cases].
abstract: This paper analyses the surgical findings and results obtained with the neurovascular decompression technique in the treatment of 70 patients with essential trigeminal neuralgia. Except for 3 patients in whom nothing was found, vessels were seen touching or compressing the nerve root in all the other patients, being the arteries responsible for the pain in 73% of the cases. The surgical results improved with the increased familiarity of the technique, being of 73% the excellent results obtained in the first group of 23 patients, and 95% in the remaining two groups. Only 3 patients were lost in the follow-up which ranged from 2 months to 4 years. Recurrences occurred in 4 patients. There were no important complications except for a death from a post-operative gastrointestinal hemorrhage. Our results and those published in the literature confirm that neurovascular decompression is a safe procedure in experienced hands, and that it should be the chosen method in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia in order to preserve the sensibility of the face.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004564:Electrocoagulation; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008866:Microsurgery / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D014277:Trigeminal Neuralgia / Q000601:surgery*
vernacular_title: Descompressão neurovascular na nevralgia do trigêmeo. Análise de 70 casos.