Use of a Laryngeal Mask Airway Decreases Radiation Exposure During Computed Tomography-Guided Percutaneous Glycerol Rhizotomy for Trigeminal Neuralgia.

Background: We have been using computed tomography (CT) guidance for percutaneous glycerol rhizotomy (PGR) for the last 7 years. As a quality improvement exercise, we recently began using general anesthesia (GA) with the use of a laryngeal mask airway (LMA) because of our perception that the procedure went faster and that there was less radiation exposure because of less patient movement. We aim to compare PGR radiation exposure and procedural time between patients receiving local anesthetic with sedation and those receiving GA/LMA.