ICHD-3 Criteria (Trigeminal Neuralgia)
Applies the ICHD-3 criteria for trigeminal neuralgia.
Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.
Example
- One-sided trigeminal paroxysms
- Yes
- No radiation beyond the distribution
- Yes
- Lasts a fraction of a second to 2 minutes
- Yes
- Severe intensity
- Yes
- Electric shock-like or stabbing quality
- Yes
- Triggered by innocuous stimuli
- Yes
- No better ICHD-3 explanation
- Yes
Result: ICHD-3 criteria for trigeminal neuralgia met
The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.
What the result means
- A
- Recurrent paroxysms of one-sided facial pain in one or more trigeminal divisions, with no radiation beyond them.
- B
- Pain has ALL THREE: lasting a fraction of a second to 2 minutes; severe intensity; electric shock-like, shooting, stabbing or sharp.
- C
- Precipitated by innocuous stimuli within the affected trigeminal distribution.
- D
- Not better accounted for by another ICHD-3 diagnosis.
- All three, not two
- Criterion B is an all-of-the-following rule. The migraine criteria in the same classification use at-least-two, and carrying that across is the common error.
- The trigger is required
- Attacks may be or appear spontaneous, but ICHD-3 requires a history or finding of provoked pain. Purely spontaneous facial pain does not meet 13.1.
- Scope
- This applies the 13.1 criteria only. Classical, secondary and idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia turn on imaging and on an underlying disease, and are not computed here.
What you enter
- One-sided trigeminal paroxysms
- No radiation beyond the distribution
- Lasts a fraction of a second to 2 minutes
- Severe intensity
- Electric shock-like or stabbing quality
- Triggered by innocuous stimuli
- No better ICHD-3 explanation
How this is calculated
Headache Classification Committee of the International Headache Society (IHS). The International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition. Cephalalgia. 2018;38(1):1-211, section 13.1. Read the source ↗
A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.