Typical Trigeminal Neuralgia: Comparison of Results between Patients Older and Younger than 65 Years Operated on with Microvascular Decompression by Retrosigmoid Approach.

Objective:  The incidence of typical trigeminal neuralgia (TN) increases with age, and neurologists and neurosurgeons frequently observe patients with this disorder at age 65 years or older. Microvascular decompression (MVD) of the trigeminal root entry zone in the posterior cranial fossa represents the etiological treatment of typical TN with the highest efficacy and durability of all treatments. This procedure is associated with possible risks (cerebellar hematoma, cranial nerve injury, stroke, and death) not seen with the alternative ablative procedures. Thus the safety of MVD in the elderly remains a topic of discussion. This study was conducted to determine whether MVD is a safe and effective treatment in older patients with TN compared with younger patients.

Methods:  In this retrospective study, 28 patients older than 65 years (elderly cohort: mean age 70.9 ± 3.6 years) and 38 patients < 65 years (younger cohort: mean age 51.7 ± 6.3 years) underwent MVD via the keyhole retrosigmoid approach for type 1 TN (typical) or type 2a TN (typically chronic) from November 2011 to November 2017. A 75-year-old patient and three nonelderly patients with type 2b TN (atypical) were excluded. Elderly and younger cohorts were compared for outcome and complications.

Results:  At a mean follow-up 26.0 ± 5.5 months, 25 patients of the elderly cohort (89.3%) reported a good outcome without the need for any medication for pain versus 34 (89.5%) of the younger cohort. Twenty-three elderly patients with type 1 TN were compared with 30 younger patients with type 1 TN, and no significant difference in outcomes was found ( > 0.05). Five elderly patients with type 2a TN were compared with eight younger patients with type 2a TN, and no significant difference in outcomes was noted ( > 0.05). There was one case of cerebrospinal fluid leak and one of a cerebellar hematoma, both in the younger cohort. Mortality was zero in both cohorts.

Conclusions:  On the basis of our experience and the international literature, age itself does not seem to represent a major contraindication of MVD for TN.