Bruce E. Pollock, M.D.
Department of Neurological Surgery
Mayo Clinic
200 First Street SW
Rochester, MN 55905
507-538-1564
http://www.mayoclinic.org/bio/12701661.html
Transcript: Deciding whether or not to repeat the microvascular decompression
In making a decision about performing a repeat microvascular decompression, one must consider where the surgery was done on the first time. If it was done at a center and by a physician with a lot of experience, it’s very unlikely that an incorrect nerve was identified and explored.
We have seen in a number of cases where patients have undergone surgery for trigeminal neuralgia but instead the nerves that were explored were the nerves that control hearing and balance. So if we have imaging that confirms the fact that your surgery was done at the wrong location, we would certainly recommend a repeat operation to look at the correct nerve. If however the operation was done at a center with great experience, we would almost always recommend a less invasive technique in the hope of providing you with facial pain relief.