Abstract:Objective: To study the relationship between the etiology and elective of surgical procedures for trigeminal neuralgia. Methods: Trigeminal nerve roots were observed carefully by using microscope in 60 patients. Results: There were definite causes of disease in 50 cases, vascular compression in 30 cases, archnoid adhesion in 15 cases, nerve root degeneration in 3 cases and cholesteatoma in 2 cases. Nerve root decompression was performed in 39 cases, and sensory radiculotomy in 11 cases. There were satisfactary results by long term follow up, only 2 patients had recurrence. Conclusion: the key of improving cure rate is that the causes were confirmed in surgical operation and the surgical procedures were elected according to the causes.