The need for destruction of a nerve branch by a neurolytic agent arises when a patient suffers chronic, severe pain from a specific nerve branch—often due to neuralgia, trauma, or neuroma—resistant to other treatments, requiring injection of a neurolytic agent like alcohol or phenol under anesthesia to permanently disrupt the nerve and relieve pain, excluding other grouped nerve procedures. This is indicated for intractable pain, critical in the maxillofacial region where nerve irritation affects comfort.
Reasons include:
For example, a patient with chronic facial pain from a neuroma might need this for relief, with precision injection. In aged care, an elderly patient could benefit for comfort, given frailty. By destroying the nerve, this service provides lasting pain relief, enhances comfort, and improves life quality, making it a key maxillofacial procedure.
Provides permanent pain relief, improves comfort, and enhances quality of life.
Recovery of 1-2 weeks with numbness and mild swelling; typically outpatient.
