Trigeminal Neuralgia
(asked on 17th May 2018) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase awareness among (a) clinicians and (b) the public of trigeminal neuralgia.
General practice is where most patients with trigeminal neuralgia are likely to be first seen and the condition is identified as a key area of clinical knowledge in the Royal College of General Practitioners (GP) Applied Knowledge Test (AKT) content guide. The AKT is a summative assessment of the knowledge base that underpins general practice in the United Kingdom within the context of the National Health Service and is a key part of GPs’ qualifying exams. The AKT content guide can be found at the following link:
www.rcgp.org.uk/training-exams/mrcgp-exams-overview/mrcgp-applied-knowledge-test-akt.aspx
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has produced an online Clinical Knowledge Summary (CKS) on the diagnosis and treatment of trigeminal neuralgia to support clinicians in the management of the condition. In 2013, NICE also published the clinical guideline ‘Neuropathic pain in adults: pharmacological management in non- specialist settings’ which provides advice to clinicians on the management of conditions such as trigeminal neuralgia. Both the CKS and the guideline, which is also available in a format suitable for patients, can be found at the following links:
cks.nice.org.uk/trigeminal-neuralgia
www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg173
NHS England has also published a commissioning policy for the use of stereotactic radiosurgery in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia. This may be appropriate for some patients where pharmaceutical management does not work or is not tolerated. The commissioning policy can be found at the following link:
www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/d05-p-b.pdf
Finally, NHS Choices provides information for patients and the public on a wide range of conditions, including trigeminal neuralgia. This covers causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. The NHS Choices page can be found at the following link: