The complex, delicate structures that make up the
nervous system- the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves- are susceptible
to various types of injury ranging from trauma to neurodegenerative diseases
that cause progressive deterioration: Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease,
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease),
multiple sclerosis.
Nerve injury can result from one or more of the
following: mechanical trauma; crush injury (such as that seen in fractures, hematomas,
compartment syndrome); penetrating traumas, whereby peripheral nerves are
partially or completely severed in an irregular manner (stab-wound lacerations,
surgical incisions); and stretch injuries.
Surgery can be done in case a peripheral nerve has
become cut or otherwise divided. This is called peripheral nerve
reconstruction. The injured nerve is identified and exposed so that normal
nerve tissue can be examined above and below the level of injury, usually with
magnification, using either loupes or an operating microscope. If a large
segment of nerve is harmed, as can happen in a crush or stretch injury, the
nerve will need to be exposed over a larger area. Injured portions of the nerve
are removed. The cut nerve endings are then carefully approximated using very
small sutures.
Prevention is better than cure. Nerve injuries are
debilitating and destabilizing, hence as much as you can, be very careful with
every of your day to day activities (including riding and driving), avoid any
form of harmful practices and dangerous plays.
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