Percutaneous high cervical spinal cord stimulation for refractory trigeminal neuralgia

Brandon Michael Edelbach; Miguel Angel Lopez-Gonzalez

doi:10.25259/SNI_60_2023

Percutaneous high cervical spinal cord stimulation for refractory trigeminal neuralgia

Surg Neurol Int. 2023 Jun 8:14:198. doi: 10.25259/SNI_60_2023. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Brandon Michael Edelbach¹, Miguel Angel Lopez-Gonzalez²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California, United States.
² Department of Neurosurgery, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Loma Linda, California, United States.

Abstract

Background: Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a debilitating pain that affects the dermatomes associated with the trigeminal nerve (V1, V2, and V3). Unfortunately, many medical treatments and surgical procedures fail to sufficiently modulate the pain associated with this condition.

Case description: This study presents two extreme cases of refractory TN (RTN) that progressed to atypical facial pain and describes successful mitigation of the neuralgia of said cases by percutaneous implantation of upper cervical spinal cord stimulation (SCS). The SCS was designed to target the descending spinal trigeminal tract.

Conclusion: Together, these cases collaborate with the limited literature and further delineate the use and potential advantages of SCS in the treatment of RTN.

Keywords: Descending spinal trigeminal tract; Facial pain; Neuromodulation; Spinal cord stimulation; Trigeminal neuralgia.

Publication types

Case Reports