A glance at contemporaneous medical and surgical literature quickly brings one to a full realization of the special interest that is centered in the study of trigeminal neuralgia, an interest always likely to be renewed so long as the pathogenesis of the disease remains obscure and the agonizing pain eludes our complete and permanent control.
If we establish an inquiry into the measure adopted to prevail against the pain of tic douloureux, we find early allusions made to counter-irritation and an array of diverse antineuralgic drugs, any of which afforded temporary relief, or failing therein were succeeded by efforts at nerve stretching and resection, measures also calculated to cure for the time.
With the results from such methods in the main disappointing, tic douloureux attracted the attention of surgeons, and in fact has for nearly two decades been almost the sole impetus for the daring and radical surgery of the