In this review the authors present data on the largest cohort of patients with the longest follow up for this procedure in the current literature. The balance between the recurrence rate and troublesome sensory complications achieved in this series is favorable when compared with previously published studies on outcomes of PBC and the two alternative percutaneous methods, radiofrequency thermocoagulation and glycerol rhizolysis. The PBC procedure has additional advantages in that it is relatively straightforward and quick, and can be performed during a brief period of general anesthesia with no discomfort to the patient. This makes it an attractive first choice in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia.

One hundred eighty of 207 consecutive patients with ventricular shunts were studied to determine the incidence of post-shunt epilepsy. Of these 17 (9.4%) developed seizures. The incidence fell from 15.2% in children younger than 1 year to 6.9% in patients over 50 years of age, but age was not statistically significant. Of patients with a parietal ventricular catheterization site only 6.6% had convulsions, in contrast to 54.5% of those with a frontal locus. The incidence of seizures rose with multiple ventricular catheter revisions, but was unrelated to bilaterality of shunting. The risk of seizures fell from 5% in the 1st year after shunting to 1.1% after the 3rd year.

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