Acupuncture in Conjunction with Drug Therapy in the Treatment of Glossopharyngeal Neuralgia

In this study, 35 patients who suffered from glossopharyngeal neuralgia and received acupuncture with drug therapy were divided into 4 groups according to the medication they were prescribed to take. Those who took phenytoin were placed in Group I, those took gabapentin were in Group II, those who took carbamazepine were categorized as Group III, and those took amitriptyline and gabapentin belonged to Group IV. All patients received 4 sessions of acupuncture treatments. The clinical effect of combining acupuncture and drug therapy were biostatistically compared both preand post-operatively and between the acupuncture sessions. The authors found that the combination of drug therapy and acupuncture yielded a better clinical outcome than if acupuncture or drug therapy was solely used. Phenytoin, carbamazepine, gabapentin, and amitriptyline with gabapentin are usually the drugs of choice when treating the ailment of glossopharyngeal neuralgia. Phenytoin seemed to have better patients’ acceptance perhaps because it has the advantage of keeping the patient relatively lucid after treatment. Drug therapy or acupuncture alone can benefit patients, but the success of the treatment outcome was shown to be limited. The treatment outcome using the combination regimen was much better, resulting in less recurrence and lower pain intensity during episodes of attack.