Here is a picture from another recent case of trigeminal neuralgia cured with microsurgical intervention. The patient is a 60-year-old female who had severe, debilitating pain along her left jaw that would not respond to medication or other treatments.
The picture shows a nice intraoperative view of the Fourth (blue arrow) cranial nerve and Fifth (red arrow) cranial nerve leaving the Pons. The picture also shows the 2 felt Pledgets that I placed to keep the nerve safe. I’m always impressed that despite all the modern technology we use in the operating room that simple things like a few millimeters of felt can cure patients of terrible problems like trigeminal neuralgia.
