CT-guided percutaneous adriamycin injection blocking foramen ovale in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia

Objective To investigate the technique and clinical value of CT-guided percutaneous adriamycin injection blocking foramen ovale in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia. Methods Sixty-three patients (24 males, 39 females; the age ranged from 43 to 77 years with a mean of 59) with trigeminal neuralgia were treated with percutaneous adriamycin injection by CT-guided foramen ovale blocking therapy. All the patients were diagnosed with typical symptoms and had been treated by medicine, and 38 of them were also treated by other operation approaches (27 by chemical medicine blocking, 7 by radiofrequency thermocoagulation, and 4 by microvascular decompression). Results All patients were successfully treated by CT-guided adriamycin blocking therapy. Adriamycin (0.2-0.5 ml) was slowly and fractionally injected when the tip was ascertained in ganglion of foramen ovale. Instant total pain relief was obtained in 61 cases (96.8%), obvious pain relief in 1 and slight relief in 1. After the initial procedure, pain relief rate at 6 and 12 months was 84.1% and 79.4%, respectively. No serious complications occurred. Conclusion CT-guided percutaneous foramen ovale blocking therapy was a precise, non-painful, highly effective, mini-traumatic, and safe treatment, and it was also an alternative treatment to classic technique.