Papers of the Week

Objective This study is aimed to systematically review the treatment outcomes between percutaneous balloon compression (PBC) and microvascular decompression (MVD) in patients with trigeminal neuralgia. Methods A systematic review in accordance with the PRISMA guideline was performed using PubMed, Embase and Cochrane CENTRAL databases. Only those articles with more than 5 years' follow-up length were included in this investigation. In order to uniformly assess the postoperative outcome, we defined pain relief for those totally pain free, while the postoperative hospitalization and last follow-up period as early and long-term, respectively. The facial numbness was quantified with BNI score. Results After database searching and screening, 7797 cases were enrolled finally according the criteria. The early pain relief rates were 94.1% (1551/1649) and 89.9% (4962/5482) following PBC and MVD (OR=0.603, p<0.05), while the long-term 58.1% (921/1566) and 74.9% (4549/6074) (OR=2.089, p<0.05), respectively. Although a significant higher facial numbness occurred in PBC group in the early stage, it was mostly diminished 5 years later compared with MVD group. At long-term follow-up, hypoacousia and facial palsy occurred more often in MVD group (p<0.05). Conclusions Both MVD and PBC provide a satisfactory outcome for the patients in long-term. As a simple, safe and reliable technique, PBC should not be shrugged off by neurosurgeons.