Trigeminal nerve cisternal portion

The trigeminal nerve exits at the mid pons anteriorly, courses through the prepontine cistern (cisternal portion) to enter Meckel cave (cavernous portion) where its fibers form the trigeminal ganglion, which is also known as the Gasserian ganglion or semilunar ganglion.

In 2013 Goodwin et al., performed a analysis of Retrosigmoid approach for glycerin rhizotomy of patients who received standard microvascular decompression

There were eleven females and three males with an average age at time of surgery of 54.8 years. 100% of patients reported that their trigeminal pain was significantly improved following surgical intervention. Four out of fourteen patients reported a 50-80% decrease from the pre-surgery baseline pain at one month and three month follow up. One patient developed a CSF leak, and no surgical site infections or motor deficits were observed.

Intra-operative glycerin rhizotomy in conjunction with microvascular decompression can be used to safely treat patients suffering from trigeminal neuralgia ¹⁾.