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At the forefront of innovation, UT Southwestern Medical Center is one of a few medical centers in the U.S., and the only one in North Texas, to offer peripheral nerve surgery.
Peripheral nerve surgery treats patients experiencing pain from the peripheral nervous system. These problems may be associated with several conditions:
Painful neuropathy
Neuropathy is the most common peripheral nerve problem in the U.S. Diabetes and chemotherapy are common reasons for neuropathy, but often the cause is unknown. In patients with diabetic neuropathy, better glucose control and pain medications often help alleviate the pain – but certain patients continue to suffer from pain despite this first line of therapy. Some neuropathy patients may also experience superimposed compression, which may be alleviated when lowering pressure reduces some of the pain and restores some level of sensation. Many patients with neuropathy are at an increased risk of infections, ulcers and subsequent amputations because of loss of sensation on the bottom of their feet. Preliminary data shows that restoring protective sensation may decrease these risks.
UT Southwestern’s specialists can surgically release specific nerves in the lower extremities. Thus far results are promising, with a decrease in pain and restoration of protective sensation in around 80 percent of carefully selected cases.
Post-operative pain
Between 3 percent to 5 percent of patients who have undergone total knee replacement develop chronic knee pain. In these cases the source of pain is not always the bone or ligaments of the knee but rather it originates from neuromas – cut nerve endings from the original surgery that become a source of pain due to abnormal pain signaling. Commonly, patients are prescribed a significant amount of pain medications with the potential associated side effects. Patients may also experience similar pain after ankle trauma, ankle surgery or abdominal surgery (hernia), with pain developing in the groin or thighs.
By surgically identifying these nerves and their associated neuromas and repositioning them into adjacent muscle, pain relief may be achieved in nearly 85 percent of cases.
Patients experiencing neuropathy and pain after surgery may be candidates for these innovative procedures. UT Southwestern welcomes anyone with these or similar conditions to schedule a consultation with our specialists and undergo evaluation to determine whether peripheral nerve surgery is an appropriate treatment option.
