Successful glossopharyngeal nerve blockade for idiopathic glossopharyngeal neuralgia under 3D-CT-guided navigation combined with ultrasonography-guidance: a case report

Abstract

Glossopharyngeal nerve blockade involves a high risk of erroneous puncture of nearby blood vessels including the internal carotid artery and jugular vein. We encountered a case of idiopathic glossopharyngeal neuralgia in which effective glossopharyngeal nerve blockade was performed using a combination of 3D-CT navigation and ultrasonographic guidance. While 3D-CT navigation has the advantage of exact confirmation of bony structures, its disadvantage of difficult visualization of blood vessels was compensated by ultrasonography, leading to a safer procedure. Glossopharyngeal nerve blockade with hybrid guidance using 3D-CT and ultrasonography might potentially add both accuracy and safety of conventional procedures.