Faculty, Staff and Student Publications
Language
English
Publication Date
11-3-2022
Journal
Dentistry Journal
DOI
10.3390/dj10110207
PMID
36354652
PMCID
PMC9689410
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
11-3-2022
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Abstract
Trigeminal neuralgia is a chronic pain condition associated with sharp, shock-like pain in one or more divisions of the trigeminal nerve. For patients who do not respond well to pharmacotherapy, there is growing evidence that Botulinum toxin type A injections into the trigeminal ganglion provide pain relief for several weeks up to several months at a time. One option is to administer injections into the trigeminal ganglion in Meckel's cave by inserting a needle through the Pterygopalatine Fossa using fluoroscopy to guide and confirm the proper needle placement. However, there is evidence that Botulinum toxin travels across nerve synapses; thus, injecting directly into the trigeminal ganglion may not be necessary. We present two patients with a confirmed diagnosis of trigeminal neuralgia who were treated by injecting Botulinum toxin type A intraorally into the mental foramen which resulted in 6 months or longer of pain relief. Injections into the mental foramen are much easier to administer than those administered directly into the trigeminal ganglion, and both patients treated with this technique experienced comparable results to what can be expected from traditional fluoroscopy-guided botulinum toxin injections. Though more research is needed, these cases potentially imply that a less-invasive injection may be sufficient in managing trigeminal neuralgia-related pain.
Keywords
trigeminal neuralgia, botulinum toxin type A, inferior alveolar nerve, multiple sclerosis, pain relief, orofacial pain, trigeminal neuropathy
Published Open-Access
yes
Recommended Citation
, "Management of Trigeminal Neuralgia with Botulinum Toxin Type A: Report of Two Cases" (2022). Faculty, Staff and Student Publications. 122.
https://digitalcommons.library.tmc.edu/uthdb_docs/122