Download (Article 06 – Volume 19 – Issue 2)

OBJECTIVE:

Trigeminal neuralgia is an idiopathic, paroxysmal, painful, unilateral affliction of the face, evoked by trivial stimuli to the specific trigger zone, lasting from a few seconds to two minutes. Medical and surgical treatment options are available with varying degree of efficacy. The objective of the study is to compare the analgesic effects of streptomycin/bupivacain versus anhydrous glycerol injection in trigeminal neuralgia.

METHODOLOGY:

Sixty patients were selected via Non- probability, purposive sampling technique, at the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery, king Edward Medical University/Mayo Hospital Lahore, from 1st June 2008 to 30th Nov 2008. Patients were randomly distributed in to 2 equal groups. In Group A streptomycin/bupvivacain injection was administered, in Group B 1ml anhydrous glycerol injection was administered. Patients were reviewed after one week, one month, three month and six months post operatively.

RESULT:

25(83.34%) patients of Group A had excellent pain relief, 03(10%) had good results and 02(6.66%) patients had poor results. 28(93.34%) patients of Group B had excellent results, and 2(6.66%) patients had good results while none of the patients had poor results. The p value for these two procedures is not significant (p=0.378).

CONCLUSION:

The analgesic effect of streptomycin/bupvivacain injection is same as glycerol injection in trigeminal neuralgia. They are simple, quick, and easy to perform, and can be used as outpatient procedures.

KEYWORDS:

Trigeminal neuralgia, anhydrous glycerol, streptomycin, Visual analogue scale.