Rhizotomy

General General TN & GPN (Old Site)
1

One year ago I had a meningioma tumor removed from my right trigeminal nerve. Doctors were hopeful that this would remove the pain as well. Unfortunately one year later, I am still dancing with the devil. To make matters worse, I developed Bells Palsy one week post op and am now living with the residual effects of that as well.

I am currently taking lamotragine and doing acupuncture every other week for the pain. My neurosurgeon would like to try a rhizotomy to "fix" things. He said I am an ideal candidate for this procedure since one of the side effects is numbness, and I have no feeling on the right side of my face (except the trigeminal fun).

I guess I'm looking for advice, knowledge, input from anyone that has undergone a rhizotomy before or knows someone who has. I have atypical neuralgia, and from what I've read on the net there are mixed reviews with some saying the pain can be even worse.

THANKS!

2

Hi there. I have had 2 radiofrequency rhizotomies done in the past. I've also had gamma knife once and MVD one time. I was very happy with both radiofrequency procedures. My last one was March1, 2013 and I am currently still pain free. I have mostly tn1 though so I don't know if that would make a difference. If, or I guess I should say when, the pain comes back I wouldn't hesitate to have it done again. I say "when" because I have a vein or blood vessel that is lying close to my nerve that they believe was causing my pain. So that will need to be addressed in the future either with another MVD or RF procedure. I hope this is helpful and I would be happy to answer any other questions you have. Laureen