The condition can cause severe, electric shock-like facial pain that profoundly affects daily life, while interventional pain treatments may provide relief for patients who do not respond adequately to medication.

Trigeminal neuralgia, a condition affecting the trigeminal nerve that carries sensation and pain signals from the face, can cause severe and sometimes unbearable facial pain. At the Division of Algology at Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU) Faculty of Medicine, interventional pain treatments are providing an additional option for patients who do not obtain sufficient relief from medication.

The condition is typically characterized by sudden episodes of intense facial pain that patients often describe as resembling an electric shock. The severity of these attacks can make everyday activities such as eating, drinking, washing the face, or even bringing water to the mouth extremely difficult.

Many patients may seek treatment from different medical specialties for extended periods before reaching a pain medicine specialist. At OMU, Prof. Dr. Fatih Özkan and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kurçaloğlu use interventional approaches for trigeminal neuralgia and other forms of neuralgia when conventional treatment is insufficient.

“It Can Cause Extremely Severe Pain”

Explaining the condition, Algology Specialist Prof. Dr. Fatih Özkan said the trigeminal nerve divides into three principal branches that provide sensation to the forehead, the area around the nose and upper jaw, and the lower jaw.

“The nerve can be affected for a variety of reasons, and sometimes no identifiable cause can be found,” Özkan said. “This can result in extremely severe pain.”

He noted that trigeminal neuralgia may sometimes be associated with conditions such as a brain tumor, compression of the nerve by a blood vessel, or another mass lesion, while in other patients no specific underlying cause can be identified.

Pain Can Severely Disrupt Everyday Life

Prof. Dr. Özkan emphasized that the defining feature of trigeminal neuralgia is the intensity of the pain.

“The most striking characteristic of these attacks is that they can be unbearable,” he said. “Patients describe the sensation as though they are receiving a very high-voltage electric shock.”

The pain can become so debilitating that patients withdraw from normal daily life.

“They may be unable to eat or drink, wash their face, or even bring water to their mouth,” Özkan said.

He explained that patients are first thoroughly evaluated to determine the possible cause of the pain. Medication can be prescribed by several specialties, including neurology, neurosurgery, and pain medicine.

“When medication does not provide an adequate solution, interventional treatments become an option,” he added.

Özkan also noted that in particularly severe cases, persistent and uncontrolled pain can have profound psychological consequences and may even be associated with suicidal thoughts, underscoring the importance of effective diagnosis and treatment.

“We Aim to Relieve Patients of This Severe Pain”

Prof. Dr. Özkan explained that medication is generally attempted first. When patients continue to experience severe pain despite medical treatment, interventional procedures can be used to target the pathways carrying pain signals along the trigeminal nerve.

“Depending on the patient's condition, we can intervene at different points along the nerve, from its peripheral branches in the face to its root closer to the brain, in order to interrupt the transmission of pain,” he said.

“We have successfully performed these procedures in a considerable number of patients at our university and achieve significant rates of clinical improvement. Our aim is to relieve patients of this severe pain.”

“Many Patients Are Unaware That These Treatment Options Exist”

Prof. Dr. Özkan said that OMU has been providing these treatments for many years and emphasized that one of the main problems is a lack of patient awareness.

“We treat a large number of patients and achieve significant success in relieving these unbearable symptoms,” he said.

“What is unfortunate is that many patients are unaware that these treatment options exist. As a result, they may lose valuable time seeking different approaches.”

He added that both medical and interventional treatments can provide meaningful relief for appropriately selected patients with trigeminal neuralgia and other forms of neuralgia.