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Objective: To investigate curative effect and importance of radiofrequency thermocoagulation onsemilunar ganglion of aged patients with recurrent trigeminal neuralgia., Method: 112 cases with recurrent trigeminal neuralgia were performed with radiofrequency thermocoagulation on semilunar ganglion by puncture through skin under local anesthesia., Result: The maintaining effective duration in 112 cases was 7.3 ± 1.3 years after primary therapy. After the first thermocoagulation, 89.28% (100/112) patients got the relief from pain immediately, 8 (7.14%) cases also recieved the same effect after twice treatment. However two cases (2.6%) had no effects. The total effective rate was 98.21%. During five follow-up years, VAS scores, dose of carbamazepine and satisfaction were better than those before the treatment. The effective rate was still over 57.5% within three years after the treatment. The recurrent risk increased obviously from 40 months after the treatment by Kaplan-Meier method., Conclusion: Semilunar ganglion of radiofrequency thermocoagulation was an ideal option for old-age patients with trigeminal neuralgia. It can be performed repeatedly.

Objective: To build the radio-frequency thermocoagulation (RFT) interface under navigation including foramen ovale and trigeminal ganglion based on CT/MRI image fusion technology, to visualize the relationship between the trigeminal ganglion and the puncture needle, and to observe clinical effects of this method., Methods: CT and MRI data of 20 trigeminal neuralgia patients which were input into BrainLAB-iPlan navigation planning system, were aligned and merged, so that the 3-dimentional image fusion interface of CT and MRI for puncture was built. According to the image fusion interface, the pathways targeting the trigeminal ganglion were planned to assist trigeminal ganglion puncture and RFT. The treatment consequences were observed and compared with 20 patients under the RFT only with the direction of pre- and intra-operative CT., Results: In the group of CT/MRI image fusion cases, 3 cases had been predicted to be difficult because of unreachable ganglion through the foramen ovale pathway. The postoperative clinical examination proved that the ganglions of these 3 cases were only insufficiently damaged or undamaged. The other 17 cases proved better results, except 2 cases whose treatment was changed in operation. The valid rates for both image fusion navigation group and CT group were all above 95%., Conclusion: Navigation interface including both foramen ovale and trigeminal ganglion based on CT/MRI image fusion made visualization of the pathway targeting ganglion come true, which made the treatment more accurate and individual. Whether the pathway could reach the ganglion might distinguish the trouble cases from others.

325 cases of trigeminal neuralgia were treated by percutaneous semilunar ganglion radiofrequency thermocoagulation from March 1982 to March 1985. All patients were followed-up for more than one year. The effective rate was 98% and the recurrence rate was 20%. 46 recurred cases were successfully treated by reoperation. There were no severe complications and mortality. In this article, the operative method, advantages and prevention of complication are discussed.