TY - JOUR
T1 - Surgical treatment of trigeminal neuralgia
T2 - A history of early strides toward curing a cancerous acrimony
AU - Kellogg, Robert
AU - Pendleton, Courtney
AU - Quinones-Hinojosa, Alfredo
AU - Cohen-Gadol, Aaron A.
PY - 2010/11
Y1 - 2010/11
N2 - The pain of trigeminal neuralgia is considered one of the worst in human experience. Therefore, its treatment has been of special importance in the history of medicine and surgery. Long after physicians began prescribing various herbs and medication for trigeminal neuralgia, surgeons attempted to relieve it by cutting out parts of the nervous system they deemed responsible for the pain. Between the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, several surgeons pioneered surgical procedures aimed at the peripheral and central nervous system. Harvey Cushing contributed the most to increase the safety of these neurosurgical techniques. Due to Dr Cushing's meticulous clinical observation and operative record keeping, we are able to selectively review his newly discovered patient records at Johns Hopkins and Peter Bent Brigham Hospitals and provide insight into the early history and evolution of trigeminal neuralgia surgery. We also review the contributions of other surgeons from the same period.
AB - The pain of trigeminal neuralgia is considered one of the worst in human experience. Therefore, its treatment has been of special importance in the history of medicine and surgery. Long after physicians began prescribing various herbs and medication for trigeminal neuralgia, surgeons attempted to relieve it by cutting out parts of the nervous system they deemed responsible for the pain. Between the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, several surgeons pioneered surgical procedures aimed at the peripheral and central nervous system. Harvey Cushing contributed the most to increase the safety of these neurosurgical techniques. Due to Dr Cushing's meticulous clinical observation and operative record keeping, we are able to selectively review his newly discovered patient records at Johns Hopkins and Peter Bent Brigham Hospitals and provide insight into the early history and evolution of trigeminal neuralgia surgery. We also review the contributions of other surgeons from the same period.
KW - Harvey Cushing
KW - Microvascular decompression
KW - Surgery
KW - Trigeminal neuralgia
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77958476441&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=77958476441&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1227/NEU.0b013e3181f0ef13
DO - 10.1227/NEU.0b013e3181f0ef13
M3 - Review article
C2 - 20871443
AN - SCOPUS:77958476441
SN - 0148-396X
VL - 67
SP - 1419
EP - 1425
JO - Neurosurgery
JF - Neurosurgery
IS - 5
ER -