CONDITIONS TREATED

Nerve injuries sustained at time of operation; e.g. fracture fixation, joint replacement

The severity and range of injury resulting from, for instance, a motor accident may mean that the complex surgery required to repair multiple fractures and joint dislocations could also damage surrounding nerve tissue. Complications from surgery can include infection, bleeding and delayed wound healing or scarring of the primary surgical site, there is a risk that nerve function in the region of the injury – with respect to sensory or motor function – will be lessened, or pain may develop.

In hip replacement surgery, nerve damage may be sustained either by direct trauma, by traction or as a result of pre-operative intraneural anaesthetic injection. In cases of nerve crush injury, surgery may be delayed for several weeks after any operation to fix a fracture or replace a joint to see what nerve function recovery is achievable by normal nerve re growth.