Peripheral Nerve and Plexus Surgery

Peripheral nerves can be affected and damaged by overload, stretching, pressure, infections, accidents, metabolic diseases and tumors. Affected nerves may cause symptoms as numbness, tingling, pain and loss of muscle strength.

• Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS): is a condition due to the compression of the median nerve within the carpal tunnel at the wrist. Typical symptoms include pain, numbness, tingling and weakness in the thumb, the index and the middle finger, especially during the night. CTS is more common in women than in men.
• Ulnar nerve entrapment: Compression or entrapment of the ulnar nerve causes typical radiating pain from the elbow to the ring and little finger that may be accompanied by weakness. Both women and men are equally affected.
• Meralgia paraesthetica: Refers to pain or numbness on the outer side of the thigh, that is caused by injury or compression of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve.
• Morton’s Neuroma: Compression of a plantar nerve leads to pain in the foot on weight bearing.
• Tarsal tunnel syndrome: The tibial nerves is affected in the tarsal tunnel at the inner side of the ankle. Typical symptoms are pain in the foot radiating to the big toe and the first three toes.
• Plexus injuries: Depending on the type and severity of the injury, injured nerves may heal by themselves without any surgical intervention. This is especially the case in traumatic injuries to the brachial plexus. In these cases, we allow the nerves some time to heal spontaneously and perform regular electrophysiological assessments to see if the nerve is healing properly. If no healing progress can be seen at 3 months after the injury, surgery might become necessary.
• Nerve tumors: Tumors of peripheral nerves are a rare but possible condition resulting in pain, tingling and muscle weakness. These tumors originate from nerve fibers or from the nerve sheath, grow very slowly and are usually benign. They remain undiagnosed until they start causing symptoms. In such cases, a surgical removal is indicated to achieve symptom relief and to gain material for a histological examination.

Treatment:

We offer a broad spectrum of minimally invasive, surgical procedures including decompressive surgery for peripheral nerve injuries as well as complex reconstructive surgery of plexus injuries.