It's time to popularize relevant knowledge for you! Symptoms and treatment of hemifacial spasm, also known as hemifacial spasm, is characterized by paroxysmal and rhythmic involuntary convulsions of one side of the hemifacial muscle. The incidence of this disease is 1/65438+ 10,000, which is mostly found in middle-aged and elderly people, and the cause of the disease is still unclear. In the pathogenesis, the theory of "nerve short circuit" has been recognized by clinicians, based on the fact that the intracranial facial nerve is oppressed by abnormal blood vessels in the vertebral-basilar artery system from the brain stem, and the facial nerve is stimulated by pathology, which produces abnormal nerve impulses and leads to facial muscle twitching. From the clinical symptoms, spasms usually start from one lower eyelid, and then gradually spread to face and even neck muscles. Spasms are intermittent at first and gradually frequent, especially in the case of emotional tension and fatigue. Severe convulsions can cause facial pain, affecting vision, speech and sleep, and the symptoms may range from days to months. Because the cause of hemifacial spasm is that the root of facial nerve is compressed by abnormal deformed blood vessels, and the anatomical structure and function of facial nerve and blood vessels are normal, no other abnormalities are found except one muscle array involuntary convulsion in physical examination. In terms of special examination, ct or MRI scan of the head showed that some patients had abnormal blood vessels at the root of intracranial facial nerve, while others were not found. The treatment of hemifacial spasm can be divided into conservative treatment and surgical treatment. The former includes oral drugs and drug injection facial nerve block treatment. At present, there is no specific medicine taken orally, and some sedatives and tranquilizers are commonly used in clinic. Nerve block therapy is to use botulinum toxin and ethanol to block the conduction function of facial nerve and relieve hemifacial spasm. After injection, nerve function conduction is damaged, facial muscles are paralyzed immediately or partially, and can be recovered within a few months. The duration of curative effect is short, and most patients relapse in about 3-6 months, so they need to be injected again. Common complications include facial paralysis, dry eyes, diplopia and dysphagia. At present, microvascular decompression is the main surgical treatment, and other surgical methods are rarely used because of poor therapeutic effect and high surgical complications. Microvascular decompression was initiated by American neurosurgeons in the late 1960s. Under the operating microscope, the blood vessels located at the root of facial nerve and causing facial nerve compression were pushed open and fixed, so that the blood vessels did not touch the facial nerve, thus relieving the compression of the root of facial nerve, restoring the normal function of facial nerve and relieving the symptoms of hemifacial spasm. With the continuous improvement of this surgical technique, especially its characteristics of minimally invasive, high safety, remarkable effect, low recurrence rate and few complications, especially its complete preservation of vascular and neurological functions, it has been quickly accepted by neurosurgeons all over the world and popularized worldwide, becoming the most effective treatment method for hemifacial spasm. In addition, microvascular decompression has been successfully used to treat trigeminal neuralgia, glossopharyngeal neuralgia, intractable vertigo, tinnitus, neurogenic hypertension, spastic torticollis and other diseases. The operation was performed under general anesthesia, and the patient had no pain during the operation. The hairline of the surgical incision behind the affected ear is about 3-5cm long, and a small hole with a diameter of 1.5cm is drilled in the skull. The whole operation process is completed under the microscope, which ensures the precision and safety of the operation, and the operation time is about 1 hour.