Continuous Intra-Arterial Blood Pressure Monitoring Improves the Efficiency of Percutaneous Balloon Compression of the Trigeminal Ganglion for Trigeminal Neuralgia

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to explore the characteristics of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and heart rate (HR) changes in patients undergoing percutaneous balloon compression (PBC) for trigeminal neuralgia and analyze the factors that influence the formation of the symbolic pear shape of the balloon, which signifies successful compression. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the changes in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and heart rate (HR) in 103 consecutive patients with trigeminal neuralgia (TN). Fifty-five patients who underwent operations with intermittent inflating cuff blood pressure (IICBP) monitoring were classified into the IICBP group. The other 48 patients who underwent continuous intra-arterial blood pressure (CIABP) monitoring were classified into the CIABP group. RESULTS: Among all the patients, there were more women than men and the patients in both the groups more commonly had TN on the right side and involving branch III. First, the balloon appeared as “pear-shaped” when the compression was effective, and the SBP increased an average of 59.04% in the CIABP group. CIABP provided us the precise range of the increase. Older patients had higher SBPs, especially patients with hypertension. Second, SBP was more sensitive and lasted much longer than HR in the process of puncturing the foramen ovale and compressing the ganglion. SBP fluctuated much more in the CIABP group than in the IICBP group. Third, the median time taken in the CIABP group was less than the IICBP group, and the prognosis of the CIABP group was better than the IICBP group. CONCLUSION: Effective ganglion compression significantly increased SBP. CIABP can monitor SBP in real time and can also safeguard the compression process. CIABP is a safe and effective method in the PBC process that is worthy of promotion and application.