Background Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a significantly debilitating condition characterized by brief yet sharp, lancinating recurrent episodes of facial pain. The International Classification of Headache Disorders third edition (ICHD-3) defines TN as “recurrent paroxysms of unilateral facial pain within the trigeminal nerve’s (ophthalmic, maxillary, and mandibular nerves) somatic distribution (Figure 1), that last from a fraction of a second up to 2 min, are severe, electric shock-like, shooting, stabbing, or sharp in quality, and evoked by innocuous stimuli.” The ICHD-3 classifies TN into classical, idiopathic, and secondary based on the etiology and the phenotype (Figure 2). Epidemiology The lifetime prevalence of TN is reported to be 0.16%–0.3%, while the annual incidence is 4–29 per 100 000 person-years.
Women are more prone to TN than men (female-male ratio is 3:2). The incidence…
