However, after time, pain attacks may no longer be controlled by safe doses of medication and surgery may be required. This surgery is effective for 80 percent of patients, with a low rate of recurrence of the pain episodes. Its disadvantage is that it involves the risks of major surgery under general anesthesia, with potentially serious complications, so it is reserved for patients under 65 years of age. A needle electrode is then guided through the cheek to the trigeminal ganglion inside the skull. This procedure is successful in 80 percent of patients and also has a low rate of pain recurrence.
Complications are minor, such as minimal infection or bleeding.
Glycerol Injection is a newer procedure for treatment of trigeminal neuralgia, though the technique is similar to that for radiofrequency rhizotomy. Results of this procedure are less predictable because after the glycerol is injected its location cannot be controlled precisely. Although 80 percent of patients treated with glycerol initially experience respite from trigeminal neuralgia, more than half of these experience a return of the pain within five years after surgery. A small degree of numbness in the area of the pain also remains after the procedure. Balloon Compression is based on older treatments for trigeminal neuralgia consisting of massage or partial injury of the trigeminal nerve.