1.What is trigeminal neuralgia? Trigeminal neuralgia is a transient, recurrent paroxysmal severe pain in the distribution area of the facial trigeminal nerve. 2.Symptoms It is characterized by a burning, stabbing, cutting or tearing pain on the affected side of the face. The pain usually does not go beyond the midline. Each attack can last from a few seconds to 1 or 2 minutes, then stop abruptly, with intervals as normal. The condition can gradually worsen and the number of pain attacks become more frequent, or even one attack in a few minutes, resulting in more than one day. The pain can be triggered by touching the skin of the patient’s face. In serious cases, patients dare not wash their faces, brush their teeth or even chew, and rely on drinking a small amount of liquid or semi-liquid food to maintain nutrition throughout the day, which seriously affects the quality of life. 3.Etiology A variety of causes can lead to trigeminal neuralgia, such as: vascular compression, multiple sclerosis, tumors, etc., among which vascular compression is the most common factor. 4.Surgical method Patients need to be hospitalized to receive surgical treatment, and the average hospital stay is 10 days. Under general anesthesia, an incision of about 5cm is made behind the affected ear, and the skull is opened by about 2cm, and the blood vessels compressing the trigeminal nerve are cushioned with a special material under the operating microscope. The whole operation was completed within 1 hour with almost no damage to the patient’s nerve and brain tissue.