Characteristics of pain caused by neuroma V

The article was professionally consulted with Doctor Phan Dinh Thuy Tien - General Internal Medicine - Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Nha Trang International General Hospital.

Nerve pain V has many causes, in which tumors in the area where the V nerve passes or in the vicinity is also a possible cause of V nerve pain. In addition to typical V nerve pain, The cases caused by tumor compression also have other manifestations caused by the tumor.

The fifth nerve is the largest cranial nerve, also known as the trigeminal nerve because it divides into three main branches at the Gasser ganglion. The trigeminal nerve has 1 motor and 3 sensory nuclei extending throughout the brainstem. The trigeminal nerve exits at the anterolateral aspect of the pons, then the nerve crosses the anterior pontine cistern, the point of exit of the pons of the trigeminal nerve is called the entry zone of the trigeminal nerve root, the position of the trigeminal nerve. This is usually the site of compression by twisted blood vessels. After passing through the prepontine cistern, the nerve continues to the apex of the petrous bone. Here the V cord passes through the dural defect to enter the Meckel space, which contains a lot of cerebrospinal fluid and is located right next to the cavernous sinus. The trunks of the nerve fibers then extend to form the Gasser ganglion and from there the three trigeminal branches.
Functions of the digital nerve V: The V nerve performs both sensory and motor functions.
Movement: The muscles of chewing, muscles of temporomandibular, internal and external wing muscles. Sensation: Influencing sensations of all muscles of the face, mouth, sinuses and nasal cavity.

Nerve pain often occurs suddenly and intensely in the face, can be unilateral or less, and very rarely, bilateral V nerve pain. There are many possible causes of V nerve pain such as:
Viral: Specific V nerve pain has been recognized to be caused by a viral infection in the Gasser ganglion or peripheral V nerve branches. Due to compression tumors (about 5-8%): V-cord pain can be caused by tumors located in the pontine-cerebellar angle and adjacent areas of the glomerulus-ureteric angle such as meningioma, cysts Epidermoid tumor, pituitary tumor, metastatic melanoma, neuroma VIII ... Due to compression of blood vessels (60%): Common causes are blood vessels in contact with V cord causing compression of V cord. , especially the sensory roots that enter the pons, most commonly the superior cerebellar artery. In most cases of VG pain, no specific cause can be found.

The characteristics of pain in the V cord due to a tumor are:
The pain is sudden in onset, the pain may have a sudden spontaneous onset, but it can also be triggered by sensory stimuli such as touching the face, brushing teeth , chewing food, or a gentle breeze blowing in the face... The most common type of pain is an electric shock-like form, sometimes more like crushing and tearing, but rarely a burning pain. This pain is usually brief, lasting a few seconds, but can occur in succession, causing the pain to last for one to two minutes. The pain can recur every day without a certain pattern, the frequency of the pain determines the severity of the disease. The pain is unilateral, always localized along one or more trigeminal nerve branches. Pain tends to increase over time, as the tumor grows and puts more pressure on the V cord. In addition to the symptoms of pain in the V cord, the patient has symptoms caused by the tumor such as: Tinnitus, hearing loss: The cause is usually due to the tumor of the VIII cord, the patient appears to feel tinnitus as if there is a sound. ticks chirping in the head; The patient's hearing ability gradually decreases, possibly losing the ability to hear. Tumor compresses cerebellar region causing: Dizziness, loss of balance, unsteady walking... Can appear syndrome of increased intracranial pressure such as: Headache, vomiting, papilledema... More severe Patients can affect consciousness, causing paralysis of other cranial nerves.

When noticing signs of nerve pain V, it is necessary to visit medical facilities to accurately diagnose the condition and cause of the disease. Especially rule out or detect early the cause of V-cord tumor due to tumor by CT or Magnetic Resonance. If the treatment of V cord pain is not effective or less effective when using medical drugs, then the patient should go to the doctor and switch to surgical treatment. Do not arbitrarily change drugs or use drugs of unknown origin for treatment. This can make the condition worse. Nerve pain 5 has very obvious symptoms, but sometimes it can still be confused with other causes. In order to accurately determine the condition of 5th nerve pain, it is necessary to have a specialist examination and do tests to confirm the diagnosis and exclude dangerous causes.