By Ed Susman
SAN DIEGO — November 4, 2010 — Treatment with stereotactic surgery appears to relieve trigeminal nerve pain in patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), researchers said here at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiology Oncology (ASTRO).
“We studied patients for a median of 5 years after treatment, which is the longest period of follow-up ever completed,” said Tejan Diwanji, BS, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
At baseline, 92.9% of patients had a score of IV on the Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) pain intensity scoring criteria. After treatment, 57.1% of patients achieved a BNI score of I, 7.1% of patients had a BNI score of III, and 35.7% had a BNI score of IV. An improvement in the BNI score, defined as the initial response rate, was observed in 57.1% of the cases. Six out of the 13 patients were able to discontinue their trigeminal neuralgia-related medications. The median duration of relief for patients that responded to the first stereotactic surgery was 36 months.
No major complications were noted among patients undergoing the treatment. One patient experienced new facial numbness that was considered bothersome. Another patient experienced transient numbness.
SAN DIEGO — November 4, 2010 — Treatment with stereotactic surgery appears to relieve trigeminal nerve pain in patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), researchers said here at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiology Oncology (ASTRO).
“We studied patients for a median of 5 years after treatment, which is the longest period of follow-up ever completed,” said Tejan Diwanji, BS, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
At baseline, 92.9% of patients had a score of IV on the Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) pain intensity scoring criteria. After treatment, 57.1% of patients achieved a BNI score of I, 7.1% of patients had a BNI score of III, and 35.7% had a BNI score of IV. An improvement in the BNI score, defined as the initial response rate, was observed in 57.1% of the cases. Six out of the 13 patients were able to discontinue their trigeminal neuralgia-related medications. The median duration of relief for patients that responded to the first stereotactic surgery was 36 months.
No major complications were noted among patients undergoing the treatment. One patient experienced new facial numbness that was considered bothersome. Another patient experienced transient numbness.
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