Glossopharyngeal neuralgia

What it is

A rare cranial neuralgia characterized by paroxysmal, usually unilateral stabbing pain within the sensory distributions of the auricular and pharyngeal branches of the glossopharyngeal and sometimes the vagus nerve (i. e. the posterior part of the tongue, the tonsillar fossa, oropharynx, larynx, angle of the mandible, and/or ear). The attacks last seconds to minutes with intervals between the paroxysms ranging from a few minutes to a few hours, and appear in clusters lasting weeks to months, again with irregular intervals in between. Pain attacks are usually triggered by a specific stimulus but may also occur spontaneously. The condition can sometimes be associated with bradycardia, syncope, seizures, and even asystole, and is then termed vagoglossopharyngeal neuralgia.

Key facts

Prevalence

1-9 / 1 000 000 (annual incidence, United States)

Age of onset

Adolescent, Adult, Elderly

Classified as

Disease

Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.

Signs and symptoms

These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.

ICD-10 codes

Cross-references