Trigeminal neuralgia is one of the most common causes of facial pain. It implies short lasting episodes of unilateral electric shock-like pain with abrupt onset and termination, in the distribution of one or more divisions of the trigeminal nerve that are triggered by innocuous stimuli. Most cases of trigeminal neuralgia are caused by compression of the trigeminal nerve root. Depending on the e...

This study aimed to retrospectively examine the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for the relief of pain originating from temporomandibular joint disorder and trigeminal neuralgia. Participants included patients suffering from trigeminal neuralgia or temporomandibular disorder with osseous pathology ruled out by panoramic X-rays. Participants received a series of 8-10 weekly acupuncture treatm...

Trigeminal neuralgia is a paroxysmal disorder with severely disabling facial pain and thus continues to be a real therapeutic challenge. At present there are few effective drugs for treatment of this pain. The present study was aimed to explore the involvement of BK(Ca) channels and Kv channels in the mechanical allodynia in a rat model of trigeminal neuropathic pain. Here the effectiveness of ...

Chronic craniofacial pain involves the head, face and oral cavity and is associated with significant morbidity and high levels of health care utilization. A bidirectional relationship is suggested in the literature for poor sleep and pain, and craniofacial pain and sleep are reciprocally related. We review this relationship and discuss management options. Part I reviews the relationship between...

conclusions the ops is a good stand-alone pain score and is better than the nrs for defining mild and moderate pain. it may even be used to supplement nrs when it is indicative of mild or moderate pain. patient and methods a total of 1021 paired readings of the ops and nrs of 93 patients who underwent laparotomy and used patient-controlled analgesia were evaluated. acute pain service (aps) pers...

BACKGROUND Vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) for refractory epilepsy is well established. Trigeminal neuralgia itself is a common disease in adults, and thus, late-onset pain in the trigeminal region under VNS, which is extremely rare, may not be recognized as caused by VNS. CASE PRESENTATION Two patients with drug-resistant symptomatic epilepsy treated with chronic VNS experienced stimulation-re...

Trigeminal neuralgia (tic douloureux) is characterized by brief paroxysms of pain limited to the facial distribution of the trigeminal nerve and is precipitated by stimuli to sensory endings in the trigeminal receptive area. The condition is relieved by blocking the afferent input of the trigeminal nerve. According to Wyburn-Mason (1953) and Crue, Shelden, Pudentz, and Freshwater (1956), attack...

Anesthesia dolorosa is an uncommon deafferentation pain that can occur after traumatic or surgical injury to the trigeminal nerve. This creates spontaneous pain signals without nociceptive stimuli. Compression of the trigeminal nerve due to acoustic neuromas or other structures near the cerebellopontine angle (CPA) can cause trigeminal neuralgia, but the occurrence of anesthesia dolorosa subseq...

The parafascicular nucleus (PFN) of thalamus, as a supraspinal structure, has an important role in processing of nociceptive information. In addition, μ-opioid receptor contributes to supraspinal modulation of nociception. In the present study, the effects of microinjection of naloxone (a non-specific opioid-receptor antagonist) and naloxonazine (a specific μ-opioid receptor antagonist) were in...

OBJECTIVE To determine effectiveness and adverse effects of anticonvulsant drugs in management of pain. DESIGN Systematic review of randomised controlled trials of anticonvulsants for acute, chronic, or cancer pain identified by using Medline, by hand searching, by searching reference lists, and by contacting investigators. SUBJECTS Between 1966 and February 1994, 37 reports were found; 20 ...