OBJECTIVES: The present study assessed somatosensory changes related to trigeminal nerve damage using extensive evaluation tools and assessed the effect of such damage on the patients' psychosocial status and quality of life compared to healthy participants.

METHODS: In 37 patients with intraorally or extraorally presenting trigeminal nerve damage diagnosed as painful or non-painful post traumatic trigeminal neuropathy, psychophysical tests like quantitative and qualitative sensory testing (QST, QualST) and the electrophysiological "nociceptive-specific" blink reflex (nBR) was performed. The patients and 20 healthy participants completed a set of questionnaires assessing their psychosocial status and quality of life.

RESULTS: A loss or gain of somatosensory function was seen in at least one QST parameter in more than 88.9% of the patients. Patients in whom extraoral QST was performed showed an overall loss of somatosensory function, whereas intraoral QST showed a general gain of somatosensory function. QualST could identify a side-to-side difference in the tactile and pinprick stimulation in more than 77% of the patients. An abnormal nBR response was seen in 42.1% to 71.4% of patients dependent on the trigeminal branch stimulated, though comparisons to healthy reference values showed ambiguous results. Compared to the healthy participants, patients showed higher scores for pain catastrophizing, symptoms of depression and anxiety, limited jaw function, more somatic symptoms, and significantly impaired oral health-related quality of life (all P<0.038).

DISCUSSION: The results from the present study showed presence of varied somatosensory abnormalities when assessed using psychophysical and electrophysiological investigations, and a significantly impaired psychosocial status.