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Gamma Knife Radiosurgery for Trigeminal Neuralgia

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Diagnosis and Management of Head and Face Pain

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Abstract

The treatment of medically refractory trigeminal neuralgia with radiosurgery technique was reported by Leksell in 1971. Multiple publications, some with hundreds of patients, have reported on the efficacy of radiosurgery in medically refractory cases of trigeminal neuralgia. The main advantages of radiosurgery over other invasive procedures are minimal invasiveness and low risk of complications. Although today the standard prescribed dose is between 80 and 90 Gy, there is variability across the literature. Similarly, there is some variation in the placement of the isocenter. The goal of the radiosurgeon is to find a balance between the success of the procedure and the risk of the patient in developing toxicity.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA

    José A. Peñagarícano

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  1. José A. Peñagarícano
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Correspondence to José A. Peñagarícano .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology-HNS, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

    James Y. Suen

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

    Erika Petersen

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Peñagarícano, J.A. (2018). Gamma Knife Radiosurgery for Trigeminal Neuralgia. In: Suen, J., Petersen, E. (eds) Diagnosis and Management of Head and Face Pain. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90999-8_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90999-8_17

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90998-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-90999-8

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