TY - JOUR
T1 - Trigeminal neuralgia post-styloidectomy in Eagle syndrome
T2 - A case report
AU - Blackett, John William
AU - Ferraro, Daniel J.
AU - Stephens, John J.
AU - Dowling, Joshua L.
AU - Jaboin, Jerry J.
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to thank the patient and her family for allowing us to report her case to the medical community. We thank the SCC-WUSM and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Mo., for the use of the Clinical Trials Core, which provided regulatory service. The Siteman Cancer Center is supported in part by NCI Cancer Center Support Grant #P30 CA91842.
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - Introduction. Eagle syndrome is a condition characterized by an elongated (>3cm) styloid process with associated symptoms of recurrent facial or throat pain. In this report we present a case of Eagle syndrome exhibiting the typical findings of glossopharyngeal nerve involvement, as well as unusual involvement of the trigeminal nerve. Notably, this patient developed a classical trigeminal neuralgia post-styloidectomy. Case presentation. A 68-year-old Caucasian woman presented with a 25-year history of dull pain along the right side of her throat, lateral neck, and jaw. Her symptoms were poorly controlled with medication until 15 years ago when she was diagnosed with Eagle syndrome, and underwent a manual fracture of her styloid process. This provided symptomatic relief until 5 years ago when the pain recurred and progressed. She underwent a styloidectomy via a lateral neck approach, which resolved the pain once again. However, 6 months ago a new onset of triggerable, electric shock-like facial pain began within the right V1 and V2 distributions. Conclusions: Eagle syndrome is distressing to patients and often difficult to diagnose due to its wide variability in symptoms. It is easily confused with dental pain or temporomandibular joint disorder, leading to missed diagnoses and unnecessary procedures. Pain along the jaw and temple is an unusual but possible consequence of Eagle syndrome. An elongated styloid process should be considered a possible etiology of dull facial pain in the trigeminal distributions, in particular V3.
AB - Introduction. Eagle syndrome is a condition characterized by an elongated (>3cm) styloid process with associated symptoms of recurrent facial or throat pain. In this report we present a case of Eagle syndrome exhibiting the typical findings of glossopharyngeal nerve involvement, as well as unusual involvement of the trigeminal nerve. Notably, this patient developed a classical trigeminal neuralgia post-styloidectomy. Case presentation. A 68-year-old Caucasian woman presented with a 25-year history of dull pain along the right side of her throat, lateral neck, and jaw. Her symptoms were poorly controlled with medication until 15 years ago when she was diagnosed with Eagle syndrome, and underwent a manual fracture of her styloid process. This provided symptomatic relief until 5 years ago when the pain recurred and progressed. She underwent a styloidectomy via a lateral neck approach, which resolved the pain once again. However, 6 months ago a new onset of triggerable, electric shock-like facial pain began within the right V1 and V2 distributions. Conclusions: Eagle syndrome is distressing to patients and often difficult to diagnose due to its wide variability in symptoms. It is easily confused with dental pain or temporomandibular joint disorder, leading to missed diagnoses and unnecessary procedures. Pain along the jaw and temple is an unusual but possible consequence of Eagle syndrome. An elongated styloid process should be considered a possible etiology of dull facial pain in the trigeminal distributions, in particular V3.
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U2 - 10.1186/1752-1947-6-333
DO - 10.1186/1752-1947-6-333
M3 - Article
C2 - 23031688
AN - SCOPUS:84866775533
SN - 1752-1947
VL - 6
JO - Journal of Medical Case Reports
JF - Journal of Medical Case Reports
M1 - 333
ER -