Ultrasound Guided Trigeminal Nerve Block for Typical or Atypical Facial Pain
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2017-03-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Trigeminal neuralgia is a craniofacial pain syndrome that is typically characterized by
unilateral severe, recurrent, electrical pain in one or more distributions of the trigeminal
nerve. Current treatment strategies include oral medications as first line therapy with
surgical interventions reserved for those patients who are refractory to medications or
unable to tolerate medication side effects. Despite these current treatment options, many
patients continue to have symptoms. Ultrasound-guided trigeminal nerve block allows for fine
adjustment of the needle tip and direct observation of the medicine.
Local anesthetic and steroids have been successfully used for diagnostic and or therapeutic
nerve pain with great success. Steroids can be short or long acting in duration with varying
side effects. If there exists a difference in duration of action, using the longer acting
drug will provide a greater period of symptom relief for the patient and may allow the
patient to undergo fewer interventional procedures.