title: [Research of the puncture depth in treatment of trigeminal neuralgia (TN) by radiofrequency thermocoagulation(RFT) under CT location].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To control the puncture depth properly and avoid the complications, CT scan was used to measure the depth as the puncture needle perforated through the foramen ovale.
  
  
  METHODS
  Analysis of the CT scan diagrams of 121 cases suffering from TN cured by RFT, and measuring the puncture depth.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average puncture depth was 0.88 cm, the maximum was 1.6 cm, and the minimum was 0.4 cm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The puncture depth can be manipulated correctly by CT location, the second and third branches can be avoided to be damaged within 0.8 cm, and the first branch can be avoided to be injured between 1.2 cm and 1.5 cm.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Second Medical University, Shanghai 200011, China. zwj1891502@sina.com
authors.forename: Wei-jie
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Min-jie
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D004564:Electrocoagulation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011677:Punctures; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014276:Trigeminal Nerve / Q000601:surgery*; D014277:Trigeminal Neuralgia / Q000601:surgery*