Radiosurgery for classical trigeminal neuralgia: impact of the shot size on clinical outcome.

Background: This study compares the outcome of patients suffering from medically refractory classical trigeminal neuralgia (TN) after treatment with radiosurgery using two different shot sizes (5- and 6-mm).

Methods: All patients included in this open, prospective, non-controlled study were treated in a single institution for TN (95 cases in 93 patients) with LINear ACcelerators (LINAC) single-dose radiosurgery using a 5-mm shot (43 cases) or 6-mm shot (52 cases). The target was positioned on the intracisternal part of the trigeminal nerve.