Photodynamic therapy in trigeminal neuralgia

Abstract

Trigeminal neuralgia (NT) is a common cause of facial pain. It has a significant impact on quality of life and socioeconomic functioning of the patient. The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines NT as a painful unilateral disorder characterized by episodes of pain like an electric shock that begin and end by abrupt way. Among several models of neuropathy using nerve lesion body, the trigeminal nerve has also been an important target. Since the trigeminal nerve is largely responsible for conducting the sensory information arising from the face and neck. In rats, infraorbital nerve, of the maxillary division, is composed almost by sensory fibers and is responsible for supplying the set of whiskers. The chronic constriction injury of the infraorbital nerve (CCI-NIo) which results in a model of chronic pain that can be applied to the study of orofacial neuropathic pain was described by VOS et al. (1994), and subsequently used in other studies, becoming a well established model for the study of NT. The multifactorial etiology of orofacial pain makes diagnosis difficult and impairs the proper choice of pharmacological therapy. Among the main non-pharmacological techniques for the treatment of neuropathies, we highlight the low-level laser (LLLT). In this study we propose a treatment using LLLT, as control of painful symptoms and repair the NIo. For this, we use techniques such as immunoblottig and thermography besides behavioral and electrophysiological testing. And also study the proteins related to the microenvironment of the injury that probably works in the repair of nervous tissue. With that, we will try to better understand the mechanisms involved in laser therapy. (AU)