Trigeminal neuralgia epidemiology
Trigeminal neuralgia is a relatively common neurosurgical pathology.
Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) increases in prevalence with age 1).
In a majority of cases, TN symptoms begin appearing more frequently over the age of 50.
A few children and young adults may present with the clinical features of TN, although there have been cases with patients being as young as three years of age.
It is more common in females than males.
One, two, or all three branches of the nerve may be affected.
10-12% of cases are bilateral (occurring on both the left and right sides of the face). Trigeminal neuralgia most commonly involves the middle branch (the maxillary nerve or V2) and lower branch (mandibular nerve or V3) of the trigeminal nerve, but the pain may be felt in the ear, eye, lips, nose, scalp, forehead, cheeks, teeth, or jaw and side of the face.
Incidence
The incidence of trigeminal neuralgia is 4.3 per 100,000 persons per year, with a slightly higher incidence for women (5.9 per 100,000) compared with men (3.4 per 100,000). 2).
The incidence may also be higher in certain populations, such as those with multiple sclerosis.
In Sweden, trigeminal neuralgia incidence was estimated to be 5.5 per 100 000 person-years. The incidence was higher for females and increased with older age 3).