Trigeminal Neuralgia: Treatments (CPB 0374, reviewed 2026-06-29)
Aetna considers surgery for trigeminal neuralgia medically necessary when the condition has persisted for at least 6 months despite pharmacotherapy (carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, lamotrigine, baclofen, gabapentin, pregabalin or phenytoin) or the member is unable to tolerate the side effects of those medications. The medically necessary procedures are balloon compression, CyberKnife, gamma knife, microvascular decompression, percutaneous glycerol rhizotomy (or injections), percutaneous radiofrequency rhizolysis or rhizotomy, and trigeminal nerve blocks for refractory cases, while surgery that does not meet these criteria is considered experimental, investigational, or unproven. Acupuncture, botulinum toxin, pulsed radiofrequency, spinal cord stimulation, deep brain stimulation, intravenous ketamine, intravenous lidocaine, erenumab and trigeminal tractotomy are considered experimental, investigational, or unproven because their effectiveness has not been established.