Percutaneous balloon compression for trigeminal neuralgia: a how I do it.

Background: Surgical treatments for trigeminal neuralgia may include percutaneous techniques including the balloon compression technique. We present here a simple, effective, and safe adaptation of the historical technique described by Mullan in 1978.
Method: Our procedure is performed in a bi-plane neuro-radiology room. During general anesthesia, 14-G needle is guided under radioscopy to foramen ovale. The 3-F embolectomy catheter is then inserted and inflated with contrast for a period of 2 min 15 s.
Conclusion: Our technique, performed entirely under bi-plane fluoroscopy, allows a quicker and more precise surgery and avoids errors in guiding the catheter that can result serious injury.
(© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.)