Referral to emergency
If any of the following are present or suspected, please refer the patient to the emergency department (via ambulance if necessary) or seek emergent medical advice if in a remote region.
- severe/intractable neuralgia preventing adequate fluid intake
Please contact the on-call registrar to discuss your concerns prior to referral.
For clinical advice, please telephone the relevant metropolitan Local Health Network switchboard and ask to speak to the relevant specialty service.
Southern Adelaide Local Health Network
- Flinders Medical Centre (08) 8204 5511
Women's and Children's Health Network
- Women’s and Children’s Hospital (08) 8161 7000
Exclusions
- trigeminal neuralgia and other cranial nerve abnormalities which have:
- not been previously treated in a primary care setting
- not had a trial of at least one preventative agent
Triage categories
Category 1 (appointment clinically indicated within 30 days)
- nil
Category 2 (appointment clinically indicated within 90 days)
- trigeminal and other cranial nerve abnormalities inadequately controlled
Category 3 (appointment clinically indicated within 365 days)
- nil
For information on referral forms and how to import them, please view general referral information.
Essential referral information
Completion required before first appointment to ensure patients are ready for care. Please indicate in the referral if the patient is unable to access mandatory tests or investigations as they incur a cost or are unavailable locally.
- identifies as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- relevant social history, including identifying if you feel your patient is from a vulnerable population and/or requires a third party to receive correspondence on their behalf
- interpreter required
- relevant past medical/surgical history
- current medications, allergies
- history of presenting complaint including:
- onset
- duration
- concerning features
- neurological examination findings
- confirmation of diagnosis on imaging and associated reports including location, company, and accession number
Clinical management advice
Referrals to neurosurgery for trigeminal neuralgia and other cranial nerve abnormalities require a trial of at least one medication prior to referral for clinical review. Please refer to clinical resources for best practice guidelines.
Symptoms may include
- attacks of pain lasting from a few seconds to several minutes
- attacks that become more frequent and intense over time
- difficulty talking, swallowing, eating, drinking
- facial spasms
- pain causing insomnia
- shooting or jabbing pain