NERVE REPAIR
1. Nerve neurolysis
In many cases of neuropathy (nerve damage) restoration of nerve function and/or reduction in nerve pain (neuritis) may be achievable with a number of procedures. External neurolysis can allow normal nerve movement and relieve the pain of a nerve tether (neurostenalgia). Internal neurolysis of a peripheral nerve may be an effective procedure to relieve pain where the internal structure of a nerve has been damaged.
2. Nerve primary suture / glue repair
Following sharp or blunt trauma that severs a nerve, urgent primary suture within hours of the damage is, where possible, invariably more successful (compared with secondary suture some weeks later) in restoring, for example, motor function in the hand following severing of the median or ulnar nerves in the arm.
The procedure may also be more successful without suturing but instead performing nerve anastomosis (reconnection) by fibrin clot glue repair.
3. Nerve transfer
In cases of severe trauma, commonly resulting from motor accidents, the nerves of the arm, for example, may be ripped out of the spinal cord causing paralysis in the arm, partial or total. Restoration of muscle function can be achieved through nerve transfer surgery which harvests nerve tissue from a less important muscle to repair the nerve serving a more vital muscle function. In cases of complete avulsion, re-implantation into the spinal cord itself may be indicated.
4. Nerve grafting
Repair of an injured nerve to reconnect a cut or bridge a damaged portion that has to be excised may mean using graft material to fill the gap. Nerve graft material is usually harvested from sensory nerves from another part of the body. Following successful grafting, the regenerating nerve axons can grow from the nerve stump, through the graft into the target muscles to restore muscle function.