A prospective cohort study on perioperative percutaneous balloon compression for trigeminal neuralgia: safety and efficacy analysis

With the recent emergence of percutaneous balloon compression (PBC) as a promising treatment for trigeminal neuralgia (TN), there is a growing need for research on its safety and efficacy. This study was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of PBC in the treatment of TN patients during the perioperative period. This study involved a total of 400 TN patients who were selected and treated with PBC at our institution. The clinical data and short-term outcomes were analyzed based on sex, initial PBC treatment for TN, and subsequent PBC treatment for recurrent TN after previous PBC or microvascular decompression (MVD) or radiofrequency thermocoagulation (RFT). No statistically significant difference was found when comparing postoperative pain relief between male and female patients with TN. Nevertheless, female patients were found to be more vulnerable than male patients to abnormal facial sensations (P = 0.001), diplopia (P = 0.015), postoperative headache (P = 0.012), and hyposmia (P = 0.029). Additionally, it was observed that there was no substantial difference in the postoperative pain relief rate between the first-time PBC group and PBC for recurrent TN patients postoperatively following procedures such as PBC, MVD, and RFT. In conclusion, this study has shown that PBC treatment is effective in managing TN in both males and females, regardless of whether the treatment was administered as a primary intervention or following prior surgical procedures such as PBC, MVD, or RFT. Nonetheless, it is noted that the risk of postoperative complications appears to be higher in female patients compared to male patients.