Cutaneous Surgery

Question: Can an injury to the posterior femoral cutaneous nerve due to surgery heal? I recently had piriformis and sciatic nerve surgery. My surgeon seems to have either injured or severed the posterior femoral cutaneous nerve during the procedure. The back of my thigh has been numb with a burning feeling inside the leg since the surgery over two months ago. What are the chances that this will heal?

Answer: It's if severed I don't believe so,,,but then again,,they have been doing hand transplants

Question: What is the cutaneous nerve? Can anyone tell me what the cutaneous nerve is around the stomach? Apparently it gets cut easily in surgery and can take up to a year to heal?

Answer: cutaneous in medicine means :related to skin. so cutaneous nerve is any nerve in the body supplying the skin .skin of arm,legs,face,abdomen...anywhere... so u can have it normally around stomach to supply skin in this area. about being cut,I had never heard that it's usually cut in surgeries.but It could if the surgeon is not good enough

Question: anyone who knows anything about nerves and plastic surgery...? Hello... Last year on November 18th, I was in a car accident... which broke my nose, left an 8 inch laceration (which is now a scar) and a paralized nerve (the neuroma) in the left side of my head. It is always itching and it drives me crazy. I am in the works of getting my nose fixed and the scar on my forehead fixed...but I am not sure if I want the surgeon to go inside my head to mess with that nerve. Am I right to feel this way or do I have nothing to worry about? Anyone been through this or seen anyone go through this? Any education about ANY of this is awaited. I really want to be educated before I go under the "knife"...especially with them going inside my head (near my brain) to fix that nerve. I really do not want to be paralized... Thanks in advance, Star PS- Tell me... is this necessary... On the information for my surgery, it says -excision of neuroma;cutaneous nerve---- thats the work i need done on the nerve.

Answer: Hi, Sorry to hear about your accident. It is hard to answer your question without having the full details of the operation but I cna help you with some information: A neuroma a small lump of nerve cells. It is not dangerous but it can cause some discomfort and that is probably why they want to remove it. A cutaneous nerve is one that goes to the skin. So it sounds like you have a lump in a nerve that goes to an area of skin which needs to be removed. [the following is guess work as I don't know which cutaneous nerve the operation is on] It is most likely that this nerve is a cranial nerve (one which runs out of the brain). These nerves are mostly on the outside of the skull. This means that the surgeon would not be going near your brain as there will be no need to open you skull. If this is the case there will be no danger of paralysis. If you know which nerve it is then feel free to email me and I might be able to help you out a bit more.

Question: Severed nerve on accident during surgery "Foot" neurology input pls :P? I had a fairly simple procedure done 6 weeks ago to remove an implant out of my right ankle, while my Dr. was performing the surgery he severed my Intermediate dorsal cutaneous nerve on accident. He informed my husband and myself right after the surgery was completed. He does not seem optimistic at all and, I hate talking to him about it cause I feel bad for him (I know crazy huh) he always looks so sad and guilty feeling. I feel good talking on a forum cause here I can speak the truth and not make anyone feel bad. I really like my doctor and I have to say it happens no ones perfect. I live in an extremely small town so I dont have many options on who to talk to, cause I don't want any troubles for my Dr. In March I had a tear in my flexor digitorum longus tendon and another one on my posterior tibial tendons, they were repaired and attached to each other to make it one strong tendon instead of 2 weak ones, that is also when the implant was put in. I have had pain since the 2nd surgery 6 weeks ago, and I think the nerve section that's still attached is inside my scare tissue from the incision site, it hurts if I extend my foot forward, and when I lay down in bed the sheets even cause pain. I have tried amatriptoline and it did not help at all. I sometimes have an extreme itch on the portion of my foot that I can not feel but, scratching it does nothing, very annoying and mentally frustrating. I can not feel a large portion of the top of my foot or my 3 smallest toes, I can feel half of my middle toe. I work in Law Enforcement and am on our SWAT team, I return to work on Nov. 5th and I'm scared as hell, I don't think I will ever be able to do our SWAT drills like this cause I fear the pain I will suffer that night. I have to be able to respond to emergencies very quickly and that involves running... I also have 2 horses that I have only ridden 3 times in 6 weeks, and I have to just watch other people enjoy them :( do the the pain I might have to go through that night, and one I had just started breaking :( When I know I'm going to stand for longer periods of time I notice I keep my bad foot on top of my good foot I guess kinda like how a horse rests one foot at times, but I do it always. I am surprised I still have a good foot with all the stuff my left foot has been through since March trying to keep weight off the right one. My questions are : What is the worse possible thing it could lead to? I have read some scary stuff online about ulcers and stuff. What are some options I might have to help with the pain? How long will this pain be present? Thanks in advance, Rhianan

Answer: I think the best thing for you to do is request a referral to a neurologist. They have the knowledge and experience to help with the neuropathic pain/itching that you are are dealing with, and asking for a referral shouldn't cause any problems for your existing doctor. There are certainly medications other than amitriptyline that can help with nerve-type pain - for example some epilepsy drugs. I'm not sure whether it would help in your situation, but it might also be worthwhile for you to do a bit of online research on 'mirror therapy'. This can help, amongst other things, to 'retrain' the brain to cope with nerve damage and help to modify the signals that your damaged nerve is transmitting. You could also try TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation). How long will the pain last? I don't know, but I really hope that it settles down quickly for you, and that you can get back to work with no problems. I've lived with neuropathic pain (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) for the last 9 1/2 years, and it's a bastard.