How effective is microvascular decompression for trigeminal neuralgia?

Microvascular decompression (MVD) is effective in about 95% of people. Over a period of time, some patients will have a return of pain. That can happen years later, but 10% or 20% of patients will have pain that returns later on, and sometimes the pad has moved or a new blood vessel has caused pressure on the nerve. Re-operation is something that we do in certain cases, but there are other kinds of treatment that can be involved.