In the past few years, decompression of [ill] sensory root of the fifth cranial nerve [ill]Taarnhøj operation) has largely replaced [ill]esection of the nerve root as the surgical treatment for trigeminal neuralgia used at the Cleveland Clinic Hospital.* The advantage of the decompression operation is that the sensation of the face is preserved. Herpes simplex often follows intracranial operative procedures on the fifth cranial nerve. The large number of decompression operations done provides a predictable source of patients with herpes simplex for scientific observation, and the additional incentive to find a preventive for this annoying complication in the patient's postoperative recovery period.
Several years ago, the impression gained in informal conversations with dermatologists was that most of them believed that, while the course of the well-developed herpes simplex eruption was not influenced significantly by hydrocortisone, applied topically, the drug might be of some value if used early in the course