Glossopharyngeal neuralgia (GPN) is an uncommon cause of facial pain with a crude incidence rate estimated to be 0.7 per 100,000 yearly. GPN incidence is only 0.2% to 1.3% that of the more known facial pain entity trigeminal neuralgia. The character and distribution of pain is often diagnostic; shooting from the pharynx, tonsil, and posterior base of tongue upwards to the Eustachian tube and inner ear or to the mandibular angle. GPN can be categorised as either primary or secondary GPN. Surgical treatment has traditionally been described to be more successful than nonsurgical treatment, but is unfortunately reported with higher rates of mortality and morbidity.
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