Current management of painful trigeminal neuropathies relies on pharmacological (topical and systemic), surgical, and complementary modalities. There is, however, a lack of quality research relating to the effectiveness of these modalities. In this review we analyze the available data that relates to the therapy of trigeminal neuralgia, postherpetic neuralgia, and posttraumatic neuropathies and provide clinical guidelines. The review focuses on medical management, as well as surgical and other interventions for painful neuropathies.
aProfessor of Oral Medicine, Head of Oral Surgery, Medicine and Pathology, Dental School, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
bAssistant Professor, Director, Oral Medicine Clinic, Dental Diagnostic Science, University of Texas, Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX.
cProfessor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Dentistry, Oral Pathology, and Maxillofacial Surgery, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
dProfessor of Oral Medicine, Chairman, The Department of Oral Medicine. Hadassah-Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
Reprint requests: Michael A. Lewis, Dental School, Wales College of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff CF14 4XN, UK
ABSTRACT