My mother had her nerve treated with Gamma Knife at the Georgia Medical College in Augusta Georgia this morning. The neurosurgeon told us that he has performed this procedure on only one other patient with GPN. He has much more experience using it to treat TN. (he's had an 85% success rate with TN) He told us that the one patient with GPN had successful pain elimination, but, of course there are no guarantees that this will be the case for her. He said that he had performed MVD but it is his hope and expectation that the Gamma Knife will become the preferred way to treat this.
They explained to me that the radiation from the Gamma Knife will cause abrasions on her nerve. It did not cut the nerve. The intent is for the abrasions on the nerve to interrupt the firing of the nerve pain. ( I imagine it in my mind as grounding an electrical circuit which stops the flow of electricity through the wire.)
She is still in pain for now. So, we do the waiting game. If nothing changes in two months, we know it didn't work. Changes could occur right away or take as long as a month.
My best wishes and prayers to all of you who are suffering with this disease. I will keep you updated on her results.