Trigeminal neuralgia

Trigeminal neuralgia

Detailed view of the trigeminal nerve and its three major divisions (shown in yellow): the ophthalmic nerve (V1), the maxillary nerve (V2), and the mandibular nerve (V3)
Classification and external resources
Specialty Neurology
ICD-10 G50.0, G44.847
ICD-9-CM 350.1
DiseasesDB 13363
MedlinePlus 000742
eMedicine emerg/617
MeSH D014277

Trigeminal neuralgia (TN, or TGN), also known as prosopalgia,[1] tic douloureux, Fothergill's disease[2] or suicide disease.[3] is a severe neuropathic chronic pain disorder affecting the trigeminal nerve (also known as the fifth cranial nerve: a three-branched nerve that carries sensations from the face to the brain and controls facial motor functions such as biting and chewing). Evidence indicates that TN is caused by loss of myelin from the sensory fibers within the nerve itself.[4] The classic presentation of TN (type 1) is characterized by episodes of sudden, explosive severe pain along the trigeminal nerve, with periods of pain-free remission between attacks.[5] The atypical form of TN (type 2) presents with the paroxysmal pain of classic TN, but with the addition of a constant pain that fluctuates from a dull aching to an excruciating roar.[6] Trigeminal neuralgia is considered by medical experts to be one of the most painful conditions known to humankind.[7]

Although TN is incurable, its symptoms can be managed with a variety of treatment options, including medication and surgery.[8] The anticonvulsant Carbamazepine, and its newer derivative oxcarbazepine, control trigeminal neuralgia so well that a response to the medication can be used to confirm a suspected case of TN.[6] Although carbamazepine is considered the first line treatment for TN, the disorder can be difficult to control. A patient may try a combination of anti-epileptic, anti-anxiety, anti-depressant, and even opioids before finding the treatment regimen that controls the pain.[6] Surgical treatment of TN is only pursued when medications fail to control symptoms.[6]

It is estimated that 1 in 15,000 or 20,000 people have TN, although the actual figure may be significantly higher due to misdiagnosis. TN symptoms usually appear in individuals over 50 years old, but there have been cases in individuals as young as three years old.[9]

Signs and symptoms

Trigeminal neuralgia

This disorder is characterized by episodes of intense facial pain along the trigeminal nerve divisions. The trigeminal nerve is a paired cranial nerve that has three major branches: the ophthalmic nerve (V1), the maxillary nerve (V2), and the mandibular nerve (V3). One, two, or all three branches of the nerve may be affected. Trigeminal neuralgia most commonly involves the middle branch (the maxillary nerve or V2) and lower branch (mandibular nerve or V3) of the trigeminal nerve.[10]

Each individual attack usually lasts from a few seconds to several minutes or hours, but these can repeat for hours with very short intervals between attacks. In other instances only 4-10 attacks are experienced daily. The episodes of intense pain may occur paroxysmally. To describe the pain sensation, patients often describe a trigger area on the face so sensitive that touching or even air currents can trigger an episode; however, in many patients the pain is generated spontaneously without any apparent stimulation. It affects lifestyle as it can be triggered by common activities such as eating, talking, shaving and brushing teeth. Wind, chewing and talking can aggravate the condition in many patients. The attacks are said by those affected to feel like stabbing electric shocks, burning, sharp, pressing, crushing, exploding or shooting pain that becomes intractable.

The pain also tends to occur in cycles with remissions lasting months or even years. 1–6% of cases occur on both sides of the face but extremely rare for both to be affected at the same time.[11] This normally indicates problems with both trigeminal nerves, since one serves strictly the left side of the face and the other serves the right side. Pain attacks are known to worsen in frequency or severity over time, in some patients. Pain may migrate to other branches over time but in some patients remains very stable.[12]

Rapid spreading of the pain, bilateral involvement or simultaneous participation with other major nerve trunks (such as Painful Tic Convulsif of nerves V & VII or occurrence of symptoms in the V and IX nerves) may suggest a systemic cause. Systemic causes could include multiple sclerosis or expanding cranial tumours.[13]

The severity of the pain makes it difficult to wash the face, shave, and perform good oral hygiene. The pain has a significant impact on activities of daily living especially as patients live in fear of when they are going to get their next attack of pain and how severe it will be. It can lead to severe depression and anxiety.[14]

However, not all patients will have the symptoms described above and there are variants of TN. One of which is atypical trigeminal neuralgia ("trigeminal neuralgia, type 2" or trigeminal neuralgia with concomitant pain ),[15] based on a recent classification of facial pain.[16] In these instances there is also a more prolonged lower severity background pain that can be present for over 50% of the time and is described more as a burning or prickling, rather than a shock.

Trigeminal neuropathic pain is similar to TN2 but can have the electric pulses associated with classic TN. The pain is usually constant and can also give off a tingling, numbness sensation. This pain is due to unintentional damage to one or more of the trigeminal nerves from trauma, oral surgery, dentistry work, etc. It is difficult to treat but sufferers are usually given the same anticonvulsant and tricyclics antidepressant medicines as with the other types of neuralgias. Surgical options are DREZ (dorsal root entry zone) lesion and MCS or Motor Cortex Stimulation.

TN needs to be distinguished from other forms of unilateral pain which is related to damage to the trigeminal nerve by trauma to the face or dental treatments. This is often termed painful trigeminal neuropathy or post-traumatic neuropathy as some sensory changes can be noted e.g. decrease in pain sensation or temperature. This is important as different care pathways are used. Trigeminal pain can also occur after an attack of herpes zoster, and post-herpetic neuralgia has the same manifestations as in other parts of the body. Trigeminal deafferentation pain (TDP), also termed anaesthesia dolorosa, is from intentional damage to a trigeminal nerve following attempts to surgically fix a nerve problem. This pain is usually constant with a burning sensation and numbness. TDP is very difficult to treat as further surgeries are usually ineffective and possibly detrimental to the patient.

Causes

The trigeminal nerve is a mixed cranial nerve responsible for sensory data such as tactition (pressure), thermoception (temperature), and nociception (pain) originating from the face above the jawline; it is also responsible for the motor function of the muscles of mastication, the muscles involved in chewing but not facial expression.

Several theories exist to explain the possible causes of this pain syndrome. It was once believed that the nerve was compressed in the opening from the inside to the outside of the skull; but leading research indicates that it is an enlarged or lengthened blood vessel – most commonly the superior cerebellar artery – compressing or throbbing against the microvasculature of the trigeminal nerve near its connection with the pons.[17] Such a compression can injure the nerve's protective myelin sheath and cause erratic and hyperactive functioning of the nerve. This can lead to pain attacks at the slightest stimulation of any area served by the nerve as well as hinder the nerve's ability to shut off the pain signals after the stimulation ends. This type of injury may rarely be caused by an aneurysm (an outpouching of a blood vessel); by an AVM (arteriovenous malformation);[18] by a tumor; such as an arachnoid cyst or meningioma in the cerebellopontine angle;[19] or by a traumatic event such as a car accident.[20]

Short-term peripheral compression is often painless.[7] Persistent compression results in local demyelination with no loss of axon potential continuity. Chronic nerve entrapment results in demyelination primarily, with progressive axonal degeneration subsequently.[7] It is, "therefore widely accepted that trigeminal neuralgia is associated with demyelination of axons in the Gasserian ganglion, the dorsal root, or both."[21] It has been suggested that this compression may be related to an aberrant branch of the superior cerebellar artery that lies on the trigeminal nerve.[21] Further causes, besides an aneurysm, multiple sclerosis or cerebellopontine angle tumor, include: a posterior fossa tumor, any other expanding lesion or even brainstem diseases from strokes.[21]

Trigeminal Neuralgia is found in 3–4% of people with Multiple Sclerosis, according to data from seven studies.[22][23] It has been theorized that this is due to damage to the spinal trigeminal complex.[24] Trigeminal pain has a similar presentation in patients with and without MS.[25]

Postherpetic neuralgia, which occurs after shingles, may cause similar symptoms if the trigeminal nerve is damaged.

When there is no [apparent] structural cause, the syndrome is called idiopathic.

Management

As with many conditions without clear physical or laboratory diagnosis, TN is sometimes misdiagnosed. A TN sufferer will sometimes seek the help of numerous clinicians before a firm diagnosis is made.

There is evidence that points towards the need to quickly treat and diagnose TN. It is thought that the longer a patient suffers from TN, the harder it may be to reverse the neural pathways associated with the pain.

The differential diagnosis includes temporomandibular disorder.[26] Since triggering may be caused by movements of the tongue or facial muscles, TN must be differentiated from masticatory pain that has the clinical characteristics of deep somatic rather than neuropathic pain. Masticatory pain will not be arrested by a conventional mandibular local anesthetic block.[13] One quick test a dentist might perform is a conventional inferior dental local anaesthetic block, if the pain is in this branch, as it will not arrest masticatory pain but will TN.[27]

Medical

Surgical

The evidence for surgical therapy is extensive[33] and surgery is normally recommended only after medical treatment has proved ineffective, or if side effects of medication are intolerable.[34] While there may be pain relief there is also frequently numbness post procedure.[33] Microvascular decompression appears to result in the longest pain relief.[33][35] Percutaneous radiofrequency thermorhizotomy may also be effective[36] as may stereotactic radiosurgery, however the effectiveness decreases with time.[37]

We can split surgical procedures into non-destructive and destructive as follows:

Non Destructive:

Destructive: All destructive procedures will cause facial numbness, post relief, as well as pain relief.[33]

Support

Psychological and social support has found to play a key role in the management of chronic illnesses and chronic pain conditions, such as Trigeminal Neuralgia. Chronic pain can cause constant frustration to an individual as well as to those around them.[39] As a result, there exists a wealth of support groups for Trigeminal Neuralgia, sufferers and carers, the largest of which is the Trigeminal Neuralgia Association (TNA) which exists in several different countries, including the UK (TNA UK), Australia and America (TNA - Facial Pain Association)

History, society and culture

Edvard Munch's "The Scream" has been used as a symbol of facial pain generally,[40] and also specifically of trigeminal neuralgia.[41]

Trigeminal neuralgia was first described by physician John Fothergill and treated surgically by John Murray Carnochan, both of whom were graduates of the University of Edinburgh Medical School. Historically TN has been called "suicide disease" due to studies by Dr Harvey Cushing which demonstrated 0.6% mortality involving 123 cases of TN during 1896 and 1912.[42][43] Some individuals of note with TN include:

Research directions

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hackley, CE (1869). A text-book of practical medicine. D. Appleton & Co. p. 292. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  2. ↑ Bagheri, SC; et al. (December 1, 2004). "Diagnosis and treatment of patients with trigeminal neuralgia". Journal of the American Dental Association 135 (12): 1713–7. doi:10.14219/jada.archive.2004.0124. PMID 15646605. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  3. ↑ Adams, H; Pendleton, C; Latimer, K; Cohen-Gadol, AA; Carson, BS; Quinones-Hinojosa, A (May 2011). "Harvey Cushing's case series of trigeminal neuralgia at the Johns Hopkins Hospital: a surgeon's quest to advance the treatment of the 'suicide disease'.". Acta neurochirurgica 153 (5): 1043–50. doi:10.1007/s00701-011-0975-8. PMID 21409517.
  4. ↑ Love, Seth; Coakham, Hugh B. (2001-12-01). "Trigeminal neuralgia". Brain 124 (12): 2347–2360. doi:10.1093/brain/124.12.2347. ISSN 0006-8950. PMID 11701590.
  5. ↑ Nurmikko, T. J.; Eldridge, P. R. (2001-07-01). "Trigeminal neuralgia—pathophysiology, diagnosis and current treatment". British Journal of Anaesthesia 87 (1): 117–132. doi:10.1093/bja/87.1.117. ISSN 0007-0912. PMID 11460800.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Obermann, Mark (2010-03-01). "Treatment options in trigeminal neuralgia". Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders 3 (2): 107–115. doi:10.1177/1756285609359317. ISSN 1756-2856. PMC 3002644. PMID 21179603.
  7. 1 2 3 Okeson, JP (2005). "6". In Lindsay Harmon. Bell's orofacial pains: the clinical management of orofacial pain. Quintessence Publishing Co, Inc. p. 114. ISBN 0-86715-439-X.
  8. ↑ Satta Sarmah (2008). "Nerve disorder's pain so bad it's called the 'suicide disease'". Medill Reports Chicago. http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=79817
  9. ↑ Bloom, R. "Emily Garland: A young girl's painful problem took more than a year to diagnose".
  10. ↑ Trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm by UF&Shands – The University of Florida Health System. Retrieved Mars 2012
  11. ↑ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ articles/PMC4258705
  12. ↑ Bayer DB, Stenger TG (1979). "Trigeminal neuralgia: an overview". Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol 48 (5): 393–9. doi:10.1016/0030-4220(79)90064-1. PMID 226915.
  13. 1 2 Okeson, JP (2005). "17". In Lindsay Harmon. Bell's orofacial pains: the clinical management of orofacial pain. Quintessence Publishing Co, Inc. p. 453. ISBN 0-86715-439-X.
  14. ↑ "The psychosocial and affective burden of posttraumatic neuropathy following injuries to the trigeminal nerve.". J Orofac Pain 27: 293–303. 2013. doi:10.11607/jop.1056. PMID 24171179.
  15. ↑ "Neurological surgery: facial pain". Oregon Health & Science University. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  16. ↑ Burchiel KJ (2003). "A new classification for facial pain". Neurosurgery 53 (5): 1164–7. doi:10.1227/01.NEU.0000088806.11659.D8. PMID 14580284.
  17. ↑ Nurmikko, T. J.; Eldridge, P. R (2009). "Trigeminal neuralgia—pathophysiology, diagnosis and current treatment". Pain (87): 165–166.
  18. ↑ Singh N, Bharatha A, O’Kelly C, Wallace MC, Goldstein W, Willinsky RA, Aviv RI, Symons SP. Intrinsic arteriovenous malformation of the trigeminal nerve. Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences. 2010 September; 37(5):681–683.
  19. ↑ Babu R, Murali R (1991). "Arachnoid cyst of the cerebellopontine angle manifesting as contralateral trigeminal neuralgia: case report". Neurosurgery 28 (6): 886–7. doi:10.1097/00006123-199106000-00018. PMID 2067614.
  20. ↑ Croft, Stephen M. Foreman, Arthur C. (2002). Whiplash injuries : the cervical acceleration/deceleration syndrome (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins. p. 481. ISBN 9780781726818.
  21. 1 2 3 Okeson, JP (2005). "6". In Lindsay Harmon. Bell's orofacial pains: the clinical management of orofacial pain. Quintessence Publishing Co, Inc. p. 115. ISBN 0-86715-439-X.
  22. ↑ Foley P, Vesterinen H, Laird B, et al. (2013). "Prevalence and natural history of pain in adults with multiple sclerosis: Systematic review and meta-analysis". Pain 154 (5): 632–42. doi:10.1016/j.pain.2012.12.002. PMID 23318126.
  23. ↑ De Santi, L; Annunziata, P (February 2012). "Clin Neurol Neurosurg" 114 (2): 101–7. doi:10.1016/j.clineuro.2011.10.044.
  24. ↑ Cruccu G, Biasiotta A, Di Rezze S, et al. (2009). "Trigeminal neuralgia and pain related to multiple sclerosis". Pain 143 (3): 186–91. doi:10.1016/j.pain.2008.12.026. PMID 19171430.
  25. ↑ De Simone R, Marano E, Brescia MV, et al. (2005). "A clinical comparison of trigeminal neuralgic pain in patients with and without underlying multiple sclerosis". Neurol Sci. 26 Suppl 2: s150–1. doi:10.1007/s10072-005-0431-8. PMID 15926016.
  26. ↑ Drangsholt, M; Truelove, EL (2001). "Trigeminal neuralgia mistaken as temporomandibular disorder". J Evid Base Dent Pract 1 (1): 41–50. doi:10.1067/med.2001.116846.
  27. ↑ Cherian, Anusha. "Dr". MedScape. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  28. ↑ Sindrup, SH; Jensen, TS (2002). "Pharmacotherapy of trigeminal neuralgia". Clin J Pain 18 (1): 22–7. doi:10.1097/00002508-200201000-00004. PMID 11803299.
  29. ↑ Lawal, Ahmed; et al. (September 2012). "Management of Trigeminal Neuralgia using Amitriptyline and Pregablin combination Therapy". Journal of Biomedical Research 15: 201–203.
  30. ↑ Hsu, CC; et al. (Apr 2014). "Rapid Management of Trigeminal Neuralgia and Comorbid Major Depressive Disorder With Duloxetine.". Annals of Pharmacotherapy. 30;48 (8): 1090–1092.
  31. ↑ Lunn, MPT; Hughes, R.A.C; Wiffen, P.J (7 October 2009). "Duloxetine for treating painful neuropathy or chronic pain". In Lunn, MPT. Duloxetine for treating painful neuropathy or chronic pain. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD007115.pub2. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  32. ↑ Raymond, Sekula. "Dr". Neurological Surgery - University of Pittsburgh. University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  33. 1 2 3 4 5 Zakrzewska, JM; Akram, H (Sep 7, 2011). "Neurosurgical interventions for the treatment of classical trigeminal neuralgia.". Cochrane database of systematic reviews (Online) 9: CD007312. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD007312.pub2. PMID 21901707.
  34. ↑ Sindou, M; Keravel, Y (April 2009). "[Algorithms for neurosurgical treatment of trigeminal neuralgia].". Neuro-Chirurgie 55 (2): 223–5. doi:10.1016/j.neuchi.2009.02.007. PMID 19328505.
  35. ↑ 2015 review of treatment of TN
  36. 1 2 Sindou, M; Tatli, M (April 2009). "[Treatment of trigeminal neuralgia with thermorhizotomy].". Neuro-Chirurgie 55 (2): 203–10. doi:10.1016/j.neuchi.2009.01.015. PMID 19303114.
  37. ↑ Dhople, AA; Adams, JR; Maggio, WW; Naqvi, SA; Regine, WF; Kwok, Y (August 2009). "Long-term outcomes of Gamma Knife radiosurgery for classic trigeminal neuralgia: implications of treatment and critical review of the literature. Clinical article.". Journal of Neurosurgery 111 (2): 351–8. doi:10.3171/2009.2.JNS08977. PMID 19326987.
  38. ↑ Yi-Bin, Chen. MedLine Plus https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007274.htm. Retrieved 20 November 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  39. ↑ Molitor, Nancy. "Dr". American Psychological Association. APA. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  40. ↑ Williams, Christopher; Dellon, A.; Rosson, Gedge (5 March 2009). "Management of Chronic Facial Pain". Craniomaxillofacial Trauma and Reconstruction 2 (02): 067–076. doi:10.1055/s-0029-1202593. PMC 3052669. PMID 22110799.
  41. ↑ "Facial Neuralgia Resources". Trigeminal Neuralgia Resources / Facial Neuralgia Resources. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  42. ↑ Adams, H; Pendleton, C; Latimer, K; Cohen-Gadol, AA; Carson, BS; Quinones-Hinojosa, A (May 2011). "Harvey Cushing's case series of trigeminal neuralgia at the Johns Hopkins Hospital: a surgeon's quest to advance the treatment of the 'suicide disease'.". Acta neurochirurgica 153 (5): 1043–50. doi:10.1007/s00701-011-0975-8. PMID 21409517.
  43. ↑ Prasad, S; Galetta, S (2009). "Trigeminal Neuralgia Historical Notes and Current Concept". Neurologist 15 (2): 87–94. doi:10.1097/NRL.0b013e3181775ac3. PMID 19276786. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  44. ↑ "Melissa Seymour: My perfect life is over". Womansday.ninemsn.com.au. 2009-06-18. Retrieved 2013-10-09.
  45. ↑ "Salman suffering from the suicide disease". http://www.hindustantimes.com. 2011-08-24. Retrieved 2014-06-18. External link in |publisher= (help)
  46. ↑ Foley, Alan (16 September 2014). "Serious illness meant Christy Toye didn't play in 2013 but now he's set for All-Ireland final: The Donegal player has experienced a remarkable revival". The Score. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  47. ↑ "MP urges greater awareness of trigeminal neuralgia". BBC - Democracy Live. BBC. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  48. ↑ Swerling, Gabriella. "MP blames Scream disorder for ‘nerves’". The Times. The Times. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  49. ↑ http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Jefferson_Davis_Farewell.htm
  50. ↑ Bernstein, L.R. (2013). "Gallium, therapeutic effects" (PDF). In Kretsinger, R.H.; Uversky, V.N.; Permyakov, E.A. Encyclopedia of Metalloproteins. New York: Springer. pp. 823–835. ISBN 978-1-4614-1532-9.

External links

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