Objective To investigate the safety and efficacy of microsurgery for glossopharyngeal neuralgia in aged patients by analyzing short-term and long-term follow-up outcomes.Methods Clinical data of 55 glossopharyngeal neuralgia patients treated with microsurgery were retrospectively analyzed.Among them,25 patients aged over 65 years were assigned into the observation group,and 30 patients under 65 years were assigned into the control group.Clinical characteristics,postoperative complications,short-term efficacy and long-term prognosis were compared between the two groups.Results There was a significant difference in the average age between the observation group and the control group[(71.88 ± 5.95) years vs.(52.57 ± 5.88)years,(t =12.052,P＜0.001)].The incidence of concomitant diseases was higher in the observation group than in the control group (56.0 ％ vs.13.3 ％,x2 =9.421,P =0.001).No significant difference was found in length of hospital stay or postoperative complications between the two groups(t =0.268,P=0.551;x2=0.068,P =0.562).There was no significant difference in short-and long-term prognosis at 1,3,6 months and 1 year after microsurgery (P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions Clinical characteristics,prognosis after microsurgery and surgery risks in aged glossopharyngeal neuralgia patients are comparable to those in younger glossopharyngeal neuralgia patients.Therefore,microsurgery is safe and effective in treating glossopharyngeal neuralgia in aged patients and should be encouraged in clinical practice.

Objective:To confirm the treatment effect of vagus nerve fiber cuts on vagal-glossopharyngeal neuralgia (VGPN) and its long-term prognoses.Methods:A retrospective analysis of clinical data of 85 VGPN patients admitted to our hospital from June 2008 to March 2019 was performed. They accepted simple glossopharyngeal nerve excision (Group A, n=26), excision of both glossopharyngeal nerve and vagal nerve of first rootlet (Group B, n=29), or excision of both glossopharyngeal nerve and vagus nerve of superior rootlets (Group C, n=30). The clinical efficacy and long-term follow-up of patients in the three groups were analyzed and compared. Results:All 85 patients were effective, including 76 (89.4%) were cured and 9 (10.6%) were relieved. The cure rates in these three groups were significantly different ( χ2=6.370, P=0.041): the cure rate in Group B and Group C was significantly higher than that in Group A ( P<0.05). A total of 10 patients (11.8%) developed symptoms of cranial nerve dysfunction; during the 6 months of follow-up, symptoms disappeared in 6 patients, and symptoms slightly improved in 4 patients (one from Group B, and 3 from Group C). Conclusion:Simple glossopharyngeal nerve excision and excision of glossopharyngeal nerve combined with vagus nerve rootlets can effectively treat VGPN, and the latter has better therapeutic effect than the former.