Precision CyberKnife: Doing an about face
A non-invasive targeted radiation procedure can relieve facial pain from a debilitating nerve condition.
Brushing your teeth, taking a bite of food, saying hello to a friend — for people with trigeminal neuralgia (TN), everyday actions like these can trigger mild to severe facial pain. TN is a condition that affects nerves in the face that send signals to the brain.
The trigeminal nerve is so called because it has three (“tri”) major branches, which connect to the eyes, jaw and sinuses. Overly active nerve signals mean people with TN might have continuous, dull pain throughout their face, or stabbing pain whenever they move a facial muscle — which is all day long. These can feel like electric shocks, said Prachi Jain, MD, a radiation oncologist at Precision CyberKnife of New York who treats TN with advanced CyberKnife technology.
“The patients who are good candidates for CyberKnife are those who have tried many other treatments like medications and still haven’t found relief,” she said.
Although TN only affects about 15,000 people in the U.S. each year, the constant sharp pain is debilitating, she added. Even the lightest touch can trigger a major pain response, so some people try to limit eating, working, hobbies, even speaking — greatly reducing quality of life.
Though TN can be treated with invasive brain surgery, that comes with risks like stroke and facial paralysis. Radiation treatments can help, but traditional radiation therapy for TN requires a rigid metal frame secured to the patient’s head with screws.
Instead, CyberKnife works by focusing high-dose radiation on the trigeminal nerve in an extremely precise way. Usually, the procedure takes less than an hour, said Dr. Jain, and there’s no anesthesia necessary, which means patients can go home right afterward. Most importantly, it’s highly effective.
“Up to 80 percent of patients have significant and lasting pain relief,” she said. “People are able to return to normal activities immediately after treatment.”
For more information on Precision CyberKnife, or to schedule a consultation, visit precisioncyberknifeofny.org or call (631) 407-2709.
Looking North/Connections 2021 Issue 1