title: Trigeminal neuralgia: a retrospective study of 188 Thai cases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the clinical characteristics and treatment of trigeminal neuralgia (TN) in a group of Thai patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Records of 188 patients with TN were reviewed retrospectively for patient demographics, the characteristics of the pain and treatment modalities.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 188 patients, 37.2% were men and 62.8% were women. The peak incidence (46.8%) was in the age range of 50-69 years. Pain occurred on the right side of the face more often than on the left (1.8:1). The mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve was the most frequently affected (30.3%), followed by the combined maxillary and mandibular divisions (29.3%) and the maxillary division alone (25%). The majority described their attack as a sharp pain (77.6%), and the most common primary locations were at previous extraction sites (40.5%). The most common triggers were chewing (61.2%) and speaking (47.3%). Carbamazepine was the most common prescribed drug (76.1%) for the initial treatment. Combination drug therapy was introduced when the monotherapy failed to control the pain. Surgical intervention was the alternative choice of treatment in refractory cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TN affected women more than men, and this disorder occurred most frequently in patients aged 50 years and older. The mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve was most commonly involved.
authors: Department of Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. aree.j@chula.ac.th
authors: Aree
authors: A
authors: Jainkittivong
authors: Vilaiwan
authors: V
authors: Aneksuk
authors: Robert P
authors: RP
authors: Langlais
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002220:Carbamazepine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003452:Cryosurgery / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008340:Mandibular Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology; D008409:Mastication / Q000502:physiology; D008442:Maxillary Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009125:Muscle Relaxants, Central / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010672:Phenytoin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology; D014070:Tooth / Q000294:innervation; D014081:Tooth Extraction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014277:Trigeminal Neuralgia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; D009125:Muscle Relaxants, Central; D002220:Carbamazepine; D010672:Phenytoin