Efficacy of stereotactic gamma knife surgery and microvascular decompression in the treatment of primary trigeminal neuralgia: a retrospective study of 220 cases from a single center

OBJECTIVES A retrospective study was undertaken to compare the efficacy of stereotactic gamma knife surgery (GKS) and microvascular decompression (MVD) in the treatment of primary trigeminal neuralgia (TN) at a single center. The study included the evaluation of clinical outcomes of pain relief and pain recurrence and complications associated with GKS and MVD. METHODS The study included 202 patients with primary TN and was conducted between January 2013 and December 2014; about 115 patients were treated with GKS and 87 patients were treated with MVD. TN pain was evaluated using the Barrow Neurological Institute and the visual analog scale scoring systems. Preoperative magnetic resonance tomographic angiography was performed for all patients. Microscope-assisted MVD used the suboccipital retrosigmoid sinus approach. GKS targeted the trigeminal nerve root entry zone with a margin radiation dose of 59.5 Gy, and brainstem dose <12 Gy. Posttreatment follow-up was for 2 years. RESULTS Postoperative Barrow Neurological Institute scores for patients treated with GKS and MVD were significantly improved compared with preoperative scores (P<0.01). Reduction in postoperative pain following MVD (95.4% patients) was significantly greater than that following GKS (88.7% patients) (P<0.01). Postoperative visual analog scale scores of the MVD group were significantly reduced compared with those of patients treated with GKS at the same postoperative time points (P<0.01). Patients treated with GKS had a significantly increased rate of loss of corneal reflex compared with patients treated with MVD (P=0.002). CONCLUSION Both GKS and MVD are safe and effective first-line and adjunctive treatment options for patients with TN. The clinical outcomes of pain relief and reduction of pain recurrence were better with MVD. For GKS, this study showed that the optimal radiation therapeutic dose range was 70-90 Gy, but brainstem radiation protection is recommended.