A Comparative Meta-Analysis of Microvascular Decompression and Microballoon Compression in the Treatment of Trigeminal Neuralgia

Frequent attacks of trigeminal neuralgia bring great pain to patients and affect their normal work and life. Microvascular decompression (MVD) and microballoon compression (PMC) are the 2 main surgical treatment methods for this disease; this study explored the comparison of the efficacy of the 2 methods by meta-analysis. The databases Pubmed, Embase, Ovid, CNKI, Clinicaltrials.gov, Google Scholar were searched, controlled studies of all 2 procedures since the establishment of the database were included, and after screening and risk of bias assessment, a meta-analysis was performed using Stata 16.0 software. Eight literatures met the criteria and were included in the final meta-analysis, with a total of 916 participants. Meta-analysis showed that there was no significant difference in the postoperative pain relief rate between MVD and PMC [RR = 1.03, 95% CI (0.95, 1.12), Z = 0.760, P = 0.447], but the long-term pain relief rate of MVD surgery was higher than that of PMC [RR = 1.10, 95% CI (1.01, 1.19), Z = 2.210, P = 0.027], and the recurrence rate of MVD surgery was lower than that of PMC [RR = 0.62, 95% CI (0.40, 0.98), Z = -2.040, P = 0.041]; the incidence of postoperative facial dysesthesia complications using MVD was lower than that of PBC/PMC [RR = 0.26, 95% CI (0.17, 0.40), Z = -5.959, P = 0.000], the incidence of postoperative complications of masseter weakness was lower than that of PBC/PMC [RR = 0.20, 95% CI (0.04, 0.93), Z = -2.047, P = 0.041]. MVD is as effective as PMC surgery in relieving pain immediately after surgery in patients with trigeminal neuralgia, but MVD has a higher efficacy of long-acting pain relief than PMC, and has a lower recurrence rate than PMC.