Comparison of the Improvement Effect of MVD and Gamma Knife on Pain,Anxiety and Depression of Patients after Treatment of Primary Trigeminal Neuralgia

Objective:To explore the effects of microsurgical vascular decompression(MVD)and gamma knife respectively on the treatment of pain,anxiety and depression in patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia.Methods:From February 2011 to June 2017,we treated 108 patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia.According to the treatment plan of the patients,they were divided into an observation group and a control group,54 cases each.The observation group underwent microsurgical vascular decompression(MVD)for the treatment of primary trigeminal neuralgia,while the control group received gamma knife treatment.The effects of pain,improvement of anxiety and depression were compared between two groups at 1 week,3 months,and 6 months after treatment.Results:The pain,anxiety and depression scores of the observation group was significantly lower than that of the control group(P<0.05).Conclusion:MVD can relieve patients'pain,anxiety and depression symptoms,as well as improve quality of life and restore self-confidence in life.

Clinical Effect of Sphenopalatine Ganglion Needling in Treating Primary Trigeminal Neuralgia of Liver-Yang Upsurge Syndrome Type

Objective：To observe the efficacy and safety of sphenopalatine ganglion needling in treating patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia（PTN） of Liver（Gan）-yang upsurge syndrome（LYUS） type.Methods：Sixty-five PTN patients of LYUS type were assigned by a random number table to two groups and treated by deep-needling （33 patients,DN group） and superficial-needling（32 patients,SN group）,respectively.The main-acupoint used for both groups was Xiaguan（ST7） of affected side,on which needle was deeply inserted to reach spheno-palatine ganglion in the DN group,but was inserted conventionally in the SN group;the auxiliary acupoints used were the local points Cuanzhu（BL2）,Sibai（ST2）,Chengjiang（CV24） of affected side,as well as the remote points,bilateral Hegu（LI4） and Taichong（LR3）.The needling was implemented every other day,with electric stimulation applied to all the punctured acupoints for 30 min,10 days treatment as one therapeutic course.Each patient received 2 courses of needling with 1 week interval in between.The clinical efficacy,pain control and adverse reaction were evaluated and compared after the treatment.Results：Rank-sum test showed that the efficacy in the DN group was significantly better than that in the SN group（Z=2.30,P=0.021）;the pain was alleviated in both groups in frequency, intensity and sustained time（evaluated by visual analogue scale） significantly（P0.01）,but deep needling showed a superiority over superficial needling in reducing the frequency and intensity of episode（Z=9.55,Z=5.50,both P=0.00）.No adverse reaction occurred during the treatment course of both groups.Conclusion：Spheno-palatine ganglion needling is highly effective,safe and reliable for the treatment of PTN.