Jonathan White, M.D.
Department of Neurological Surgery
UT Southwestern Medical Center
5303 Harry Hines Blvd.
4th Floor, Suite 100
Dallas, TX 75390-9167
214-645-2300
http://tiny.cc/jonathanwhite
Transcript: When should I have a microvascular decompression?
Many people ask me “Should I have a microvascular decompression?” And the answer to that question is really yes and no depending on who you are. There’s certain very good things about having the microvascular decompression and there’s certain problems with it.
The best part about the microvascular decompression is that most people agree it has the highest success rate of any of the procedures. And the microvascular decompression has the highest chance of treating you and making it as though you never had the disorder in the first place. As if it’s just gone. And I think that’s what most people who have face pain want. It came on mysteriously and now they just want to get rid of it as if they never had it.
But on the flip side, the microvascular decompression carries the highest risk of any of the procedures offered. That risk is still pretty low, somewhere between one and five percent risk of some complication but it is the highest risk any of the procedures offered.