A 62-year-old woman suffering from debilitating trigeminal neuralgia for nearly seven years has experienced remarkable relief following a single-session CyberKnife treatment at HCG Cancer Hospital, Mumbai.
Trigeminal neuralgia is a chronic neurological disorder that affects the trigeminal nerve, which carries facial sensations to the brain. The condition can cause severe facial pain that can be triggered by simple everyday activities such as smiling, speaking, eating, brushing teeth, or even a light breeze touching the face.
For the patient, the condition had severely impacted her quality of life, leaving her unable to perform routine activities. As the disease progressed, she was forced to rely mostly on mashed food and drink water through a straw to avoid triggering agonising, electric shock-like pain episodes.
Initially, she was treated with painkillers and antiepileptic medications for several years. However, despite continuous medication, her condition gradually became refractory, with medicines no longer providing adequate relief.
“Despite continuous medication, the pain gradually worsened. Over the last one to one-and-a-half years, my condition had become extremely debilitating. The slightest facial movement or touch would trigger severe pain episodes. Eating normal food became impossible, forcing me to survive mostly on blended and mashed meals. Even drinking water became difficult, and had to depend on a straw to avoid the triggering pain,” said Swati Nair (name changed).
According to Dr Trinanjan Basu, HOD & Sr Consultant Radiation Oncologist at HCG Cancer Hospital, Mumbai (Borivali & Colaba), the patient’s condition had reached a stage where even minor facial movements or touch triggered unbearable pain. Since conventional medicines were no longer effective, the hospital recommended stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) using the CyberKnife system, a highly precise and non-invasive radiation treatment.
“The treatment involved delivering a high-dose, single-session radiation precisely to the area where the trigeminal nerve originates in the brain. The objective was to interrupt the abnormal pain signals responsible for the severe facial pain while minimizing radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissues. During the 35–40-minute procedure, a custom-made mask was used to keep the patient’s head completely still to ensure accuracy and precision,” explained Dr Basu.
Following the CyberKnife treatment, the patient experienced remarkable improvement in her condition. Immediately after the session, she was able to smile and laugh comfortably without triggering severe pain – something she had been unable to do for years. She also reported improvement in speaking, facial movement, and eating, leading to a substantial enhancement in her overall quality of life.
Dr Basu noted that while medications remain the first line of treatment for trigeminal neuralgia, advanced procedures such as CyberKnife-based stereotactic radiosurgery can provide significant relief for patients whose pain no longer responds to conventional therapies.
He added that the case highlights the importance of early diagnosis, timely intervention, and awareness about advanced treatment options available for chronic neurological disorders.
