Microvascular decompression (MVD) is a procedure used to treat facial nerve-based reactions associated with illnesses like trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm. Often, patients come to learn about microvascular decompression because other forms of treatments have failed to reduce pain or infirmity related to trigeminal neuralgia or hemifacial spasms.
Medical management is always the first course of recommended treatment for either of those disorders. However, some cases are simply too extensive or pervasive for medical management to be successful. When that happens, more invasive treatments, such as microvascular decompression, become viable patient options. Fortunately, many people experience great relief due to the high microvascular decompression success rate.
What Is Microvascular Decompression?
When you undergo microvascular decompression, you are first sedated through general anesthesia. Then, your neurosurgeon will make an incision behind the ear on the side where your nerve reactions are occurring. Once the incision reveals your mastoid bone, a small circular opening is made. Next, your doctor will find the nerve that’s being impinged upon, typically a blood vessel, and will reverse the decompression using a surgical sponge.
Once the opening is secured, usually with a titanium circle that is secured to your skull, your incision will be stitched together. Afterward, you’ll be closely monitored in the hospital for a few days before being released. Once the pain associated with the surgery fades, you should be able to experience symptomatic relief from your trigeminal neuralgia or hemifacial spasm.
What Is the Microvascular Decompression Success Rate?
Microvascular decompression enjoys a very high patient success rate. After the operation, between 80 and 95 percent of patients experience complete or partial relief. This high rate can be attributed to the fact that an impingement can be visualized through pre-surgical radiological scans, meaning that neurosurgeons can be very confident that the release of that impingement will lead to favorable patient outcomes. But while immediate results are important to consider, so too is the future outlook.
In the long term, between 70 and 80 percent of patients experience success in reducing or eliminating the symptoms of trigeminal neuralgia or hemifacial spasm. In some cases, recurrence of pain due to trigeminal neuralgia or hemifacial spasms is due to a new impingement occurring on another portion of the nerve. If new imaging can pinpoint that impingement, microvascular decompression may again be the best option for relief.
What Accounts for the High Microvascular Decompression Success Rate?
In addition to scans like MRIs or CTs showing evidence of impingement, the patient’s overall health becomes a consideration for whether microvascular decompression is the appropriate treatment to seek. As with any surgery involving the opening of your skull, microvascular decompression is an invasive and intensive procedure. Your health history will play an enormous role in the consideration of this treatment. Because of that, if you’re found to be a good candidate for microvascular decompression, your overall outlook for the elimination or tamping down of symptoms is very positive.
In addition, neurosurgeons who specialize in the treatment of facial pain or spasms are highly trained to lead this type of surgery. And as treatments evolve over time, neurosurgeons who commonly perform microvascular decompression seek to continuously learn more and tweak their technique so that patients can continue to receive the most beneficial treatment possible.
What Other Factors Influence the Microvascular Decompression Success Rate?
Age can also play a factor in the microvascular decompression success rate. Generally, it’s a treatment most commonly recommended for younger patients, who might also be in better health overall. Additionally, patients are screened for other disorders that may mimic trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm. For instance, if a patient has been diagnosed with MS, the facial symptoms of that disorder cannot be alleviated through microvascular decompression. Overall, patients who have no comorbid disorders are the best candidates for microvascular decompression.
How Can I Be Prepared for Microvascular Decompression?
As a patient who is a potential candidate for microvascular decompression, there are several areas in which you can prepare for this procedure and its outcome. First, engage in frank discussions with your neurosurgeon, and particularly, take the time to discuss your health history and any questions you may have. This will allow you to have the most realistic expectations about the surgery.
Second, understand that there is some pain associated with the surgery, just after it is performed and possibly lasting for several weeks afterward. During your hospital stay, your medical team will work to make this pain manageable, which may include the use of narcotic medications. Once released from the hospital, you may need to continue taking these medications, tapering off as your surgical pain fades.
Third, arrange for a support system for yourself prior to your surgery. You will not be able to drive home from the hospital on your own. Additionally, you may need quite a bit of help during the early stages of your recovery. Being gentle with yourself and relying on your support system will lead to better overall outcomes, whereas trying to resume the various obligations of your life can lengthen your recovery period.
You, too, may be able to benefit from the high microvascular decompression success rate. Your diagnosing doctor or the specialists to whom you have been referred can evaluate your unique case to determine whether this is the best option for you.
