title: Bulbar trigeminal stereotactic nucleotractotomy for treatment of facial pain.
abstract: Many pharmacological and surgical treatments are available for the treatment of chronic facial pain. However, many of them are expensive and often very ineffective. Past publications suggested that bulbar trigeminal stereotactic nucleotractotomy is a very useful procedure for the treatment of neuropathic or oncologic facial pain. The authors describe the results of treatment with stereotactic nucleotractotomy in 58 patients with chronic facial pain. The intensity of the pain was evaluated according to the visual analogue scale, and daily life activities were also evaluated. The conclusion was that this procedure is a safe and effective method for treatment of postherpetic neuralgia, Wallenberg's syndrome and oncologic facial pain but not of trigeminal neuralgia.
authors.affiliation: Division of Functional Neurosurgery, Department of Neurology, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lepski
authors.forename: P H P
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Aguiar
authors.forename: V A S
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Cescato
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rogano
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Alaminos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003714:Denervation / Q000379:methods; D005157:Facial Pain / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008875:Middle Aged; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques; D014279:Trigeminal Nucleus, Spinal / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000601:surgery*