Relationship between compression time and long-term hypoesthesia in primary trigeminal neuralgia treated with percutaneous balloon compression

Percutaneous balloon compression is a surgical method for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia, but one of the surgical parameters, compression time, is inconclusive. To investigate the effect of compression time during balloon compression on long-term postoperative hypoesthesia in patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia and to provide guidance on relevant parameters for balloon compression in the treatment of primary trigeminal neuralgia, we conducted a nested case–control study. Patients with primary trigeminal neuralgia treated by balloon compression from March 2013 to September 2013 were divided into case group and control group according to whether there were still symptoms of hypoesthesia at present. The relationship between the compression time of balloon compression and long-term hypoesthesia was analyzed. A total of 289 trigeminal neuralgia patients treated with percutaneous balloon compression were included in this study. Multivariate logistic regression showed that compression time was significantly correlated with long-term hypoesthesia (OR = 1.91, 95% CI = 1.13–3.23, P = 0.02), and compression time was greater than one. The risk of hypoesthesia in the long-term when the compression time is longer than 1 min is 1.93 times that of 1 min. PBC is a safe and effective surgical method, and the long-term hypoesthesia is related to the compression time during operation. The longer the compression time during operation, the greater the risk of long-term hypoesthesia.