The pain therapy professionals of the Santa Croce and Carle Company went to Brussels, to one of the major European centers specializing in trigeminal neuralgia, to import neuronavigation treatment to Cuneo (currently the only Italian centre). The system has been in use for about a year in collaboration with the Neurosurgery of the Santa Croce e Carle hospital led by the head physician Michele D’Agruma. “Through an advanced three-dimensional reconstruction system, obtained starting from neuroradiological tests such as MRIs and CT scans, it allows us to reach the point to be treated using an electromagnetic trace – explains Enrico Obertino, head of Pain Therapy at Santa Croce e Carle -. The operator is shown the planned route moment by moment. With this method the entire treatment procedure can be carried out with maximum safety and precision and furthermore there is the possibility of sharing indications and therapeutic choices in a multidisciplinary way”.
Trigeminal neuralgia is a chronic painful condition that affects the nerve that carries information, perceived in the face, to the brain. Often, a small stimulation, such as chewing, touching your face or smiling, is enough to trigger excruciating pain. Initially the attacks may be brief and mild, but over time the situation can worsen, the attacks become more frequent and the pain becomes increasingly excruciating. Those who suffer from it are especially women and people over 50 years of age. The treatment of this syndrome has always been, initially, pharmacological and then, in the presence of failure or side effects, minimally invasive, surgical or radiological techniques are used.
