When is facial pain trigeminal neuralgia?

PREVIEW

Few disorders can be diagnosed through history taking with as high a degree of confidence as trigeminal neuralgia. In fact, examination may be difficult, because patients with the disorder may not want to be touched for fear of precipitating an episode. Luckily, a preliminary diagnosis of trigeminal neuralgia can be made on the basis of the nature of the pain (eg, piercing, paroxysmal, intermittent) and the absence of other facial findings (eg, numbness, swelling, throbbing). The authors describe what to include in a complete diagnostic evaluation and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of treatment options.