evaluation of the effectiveness of using pulse dose radiofrequency for treatment of trigeminal neuralgia

Trigeminal neuralgia has an incidence of 4-13 per 100000 people per year. the incidence of this disease increases in the elderly, and it is known to cause severe shock-like pain. pharmacological therapy is the first-line treatment of trigeminal neuralgia. if pharmacological therapy fails, then different procedures are available. pulse-dose radiofrequency is one such procedure. in this study, we evaluated pulse dose radiofrequency's efficacy as a method in which pulse amplitude and width are considered essential variables. this research was conducted as a cross-sectional study on trigeminal neuralgia patients referred to the pain clinic of amir a’lam hospital in 2020. conservative therapy has failed; therefore, the clinician decided to use pulse dose radiofrequency to reduce their pain. among the 29 patients registered during this period, 15 (51.8%) were women and 14 (48.3%) were men. the mean (±sd) age of the patient was 57.07 (±14.26) years. the tow route was interrupted in 7 (24.1%) patients. a significant difference was observed between the pain scores before and after the operation (p<0.001). pulse-dose radiofrequency is a safe and effective therapy for treating trigeminal neuralgia and can be considered a new way to develop the pulse radiofrequency method.