Trigeminal neuralgia.
BACKGROUND
Trigeminal neuralgia is a sudden, unilateral, brief, stabbing, recurrent pain in the distribution of one or more branches of the fifth cranial nerve. Pain occurs in paroxysms which last from a few seconds to 2 minutes. The frequency of the paroxysms ranges from a few to hundreds of attacks a day. Periods of remission can last for months to years, but tend to shorten over time.


METHODS
We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical question: What are the effects of treatments in people with trigeminal neuralgia? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and other important databases up to September 2007 (Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically, please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).


RESULTS
We found 14 systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.


CONCLUSIONS
In this systematic review we present information relating to the effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: ablative neurosurgical techniques to the Gasserian ganglion, baclofen, carbamazepine, clonazepam, cryotherapy of peripheral nerves, gabapentin, lamotrigine, microvascular decompression, nerve block, oxcarbazepine, peripheral acupuncture, phenytoin, proparacaine eye drops, sodium valproate, stereotactic radiosurgery, tizanidine, and topiramate.
Zakrzewska
Joanna M
JM
Barts and the London Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK.
Linskey
Mark E
ME
D006801:Humans; D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010146:Pain / Q000601:surgery; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010672:Phenytoin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016634:Radiosurgery; D012668:Trigeminal Ganglion; D014277:Trigeminal Neuralgia / Q000188:drug therapy
D009883:Ophthalmic Solutions; D010672:Phenytoin