Abstract
Two elderly patients with serious complication who suffered from idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia received pharmacotherapy and permanent trigeminal nerve block treatment. However, their improvement was only slight. Stereotactic gamma radiosurgery therapy, a type of the radiotherapy treatment, was attempted. In both cases, a 2-3mm periphery in which the trigeminal nerve entered the brain stem was the irradiation goal point, and 80 Gy were irradiated in a single shot. Excellent results were obtained in both cases, and there were no side effects such as dysesthesia or hypesthesia. This method may be an effective treatment in patients with intractable trigeminal neuralgia.
