Abducens Nerve Palsy Following Percutaneous Balloon Compression for Idiopathic Trigeminal Neuralgia : Case Report and Technical Considerations

Lee, Seong-Woo; Lee, Myung-Ki; Kim, Woo-Jae; Lee, Gun-Sang; Kim, Yun-Suk

Original article

Journal of the Korean Society of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery 2014;10(2):110-112.
Published online September 30, 2014.

Abducens Nerve Palsy Following Percutaneous Balloon Compression for Idiopathic Trigeminal Neuralgia : Case Report and Technical Considerations

Seong-Woo Lee, Myung-Ki Lee, Woo-Jae Kim, Gun-Sang Lee, Yun-Suk Kim

Department of Neurosurgery, Maryknoll Medical Center, Busan, Korea

Abstract

Unwanted abducens nerve damage associated with percutaneous balloon compression (BC) of the trigeminal ganglion have rarely been reported. The authors present a reversible isolated abducens nerve palsy in a patient, who underwent BC under general anesthesia for treating idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia. The inflated balloon obtained an irregular shape, which was more anterior near the sella turcica than the standard position. The facial pain disappeared immediately after surgery, but diplopia when looking to ipsilateral side of the procedure appeared, which resolved spontaneously in 2 months. A functional neurosurgeon should be aware of the importance of anatomic position and the shape of the inflated balloon to reduce the risk of injury to the abducens nerve in BC.

Key Words: Abducens nerve palsy, Trigeminal neuralgia, Percutaneous balloon compression.