Origins of trigeminal neuralgia surgery (era of microvascular decompression)

Throughout history, physicians have attempted to alleviate suffering of patients with trigeminal neuralgia. However, treatment was ineffective because pathogenesis of disease was unclear. Nevertheless, history of neuralgia shows that pioneering observations made by experienced clinicians led to development of methods that at least partially alleviated pain despite unclear etiopathogenesis. Improvement of treatment methods has evolved from religious rituals to vascular decompression of trigeminal nerve.