Greenfield and Sulder described vidan neuralgia for the first time in 1910.
Harris C. Vail in 1929 reported that vidian neuralgia was often associated with inflammatory lesions in the posterior ethmoid and sphenoid sinus regions.
The neuralgic pain is often felt in the nose, eyes, ears, head, neck and shoulders, and can not be relieved by local injection of anesthetic agents.
The authors describe 2 cases of vidian neuralgia. The first case is a 28-year-old male who complained of neuralgic pain in the radix of nose, nasal dorsum, right orbit and temple.
The repetitive pains had been very severe and could not be relieved by various analgesics.
The patient kept holding an ice bag against his cheek and stated that he had thought of commiting suicide when the pain was extremely severe.
The second case is a 22-year-old female who complained of repetitive severe pains in the right eye and cheek which kept him from working.
Vidian neurectomy was performed for the above two cases and produced good postoperative results. The authors discuss the two cases and describe differential diagnosis between vidian neuralgia and primary atypical facial neuralgia or trigeminal neuralgia.
