My median nerve was severed 3/4 of the way through during CT surgery - it has been 4 months no sensation back yet and painful. When I ask the doc questions its always "I don't know or you'll adapt". I have loss of muscle function in the thumb and loss of sensation. Anyone out there with similar experience? How long was healing time and did you regain full function and sensation?

you should be in for a sizeable compensation package as this kind of surgical error is caused by carelessness.You need a good Lawyer.

nerves are very slow to regenerate if at all. i have nerve damage in my arm, which has gotten better over the years, but it's been about 10yrs and there really isn't much of an improvment. Nerves do not repair very well at all. I agree with the other poster, you should contact a lawyer.
your getting muscle weakness because the muscles innervated by the severed nerve are no longer recieving innervation therefore are starting to atrophy. What you should do is go to a physiotherapist. they can electricly stimulate the muscles and maybe keep them from wasting away in the event your nerve does repair enough to have some function. They may also be able to help stimulate nerve growth, it's worth looking into anyway, especially if the affected hand is your dominant one.

Lefty I had a similiar outcome from this 'simple' surgery......I have alot of info that will help you.....contact me asap Originally posted by Lefty:
My median nerve was severed 3/4 of the way through during CT surgery - it has been 4 months no sensation back yet and painful. When I ask the doc questions its always "I don't know or you'll adapt". I have loss of muscle function in the thumb and loss of sensation. Anyone out there with similar experience? How long was healing time and did you regain full function and sensation?

Theck,

Any info would be helpful. It has now been 7 1/2 months fingers still numb also my thumb hasn't regained rotation. How long has it been for you? Do you have sensation back? Thumb rotation? The nueroligist is surprised I have healed as much as I have already. My hand is strong - just no feeling in certain parts. I feel like I have been blinded. Also, I had RSD for 6 months and received stellate blocks to get rid of it, from what I have read I am extremely lucky that it was corrected with only 6 blocks.

Hey Lefty.......I had an open ctr in march of 99.......woke up in the middle of this procedure and felt two sharp pains and was quickly knocked out.....thats when the hell started..I was numb in the thumb;palm leading to the thumb;and half of the index finger.Within three days the burning and nerve stuff started......I'm sure you can relate...My doc denied anything went wrong with the surgery 'normal ctr' 'nerve just waking up'.........well I believed this bs for (3) weeks........went to several surgeons......settled on one who took the wait and see how the nerve regenerates mode........after (5) months found A great hand surgeon that diognosed problem in (15) minutes and had it verified with A very detailed EMG...........He made an attempt to help me by doing a sural nerve graft;tendon transfer;and Z plasty of web space ........because of that surgery I got back the movement of my hand...but the pain and feeling only changed slightly........I had gone thru (16)mo. of physical therapy...and recently had a nerve stimulater implanted to help with the pain.......Originally posted by Lefty:
Theck,

Any info would be helpful. It has now been 7 1/2 months fingers still numb also my thumb hasn't regained rotation. How long has it been for you? Do you have sensation back? Thumb rotation? The nueroligist is surprised I have healed as much as I have already. My hand is strong - just no feeling in certain parts. I feel like I have been blinded. Also, I had RSD for 6 months and received stellate blocks to get rid of it, from what I have read I am extremely lucky that it was corrected with only 6 blocks.

Hey Lefty.......I had an open ctr in march of 99.......woke up in the middle of this procedure and felt two sharp pains and was quickly knocked out.....thats when the hell started..I was numb in the thumb;palm leading to the thumb;and half of the index finger.Within three days the burning and nerve stuff started......I'm sure you can relate...My doc denied anything went wrong with the surgery 'normal ctr' 'nerve just waking up'.........well I believed this bs for (3) weeks........went to several surgeons......settled on one who took the wait and see how the nerve regenerates mode........after (5) months found A great hand surgeon that diognosed problem in (15) minutes and had it verified with A very detailed EMG...........He made an attempt to help me by doing a sural nerve graft;tendon transfer;and Z plasty of web space ........because of that surgery I got back the movement of my hand...but the pain and feeling only changed slightly........I had gone thru (16)mo. of physical therapy...and recently had a nerve stimulater implanted to help with the pain.......Originally posted by Lefty:
Theck,

Any info would be helpful. It has now been 7 1/2 months fingers still numb also my thumb hasn't regained rotation. How long has it been for you? Do you have sensation back? Thumb rotation? The nueroligist is surprised I have healed as much as I have already. My hand is strong - just no feeling in certain parts. I feel like I have been blinded. Also, I had RSD for 6 months and received stellate blocks to get rid of it, from what I have read I am extremely lucky that it was corrected with only 6 blocks.

How do you know if your Median nerve is damaged??

My husband had surgery on his right hand and said his hand feels no better or worse since the surgery, when he told his Doctor, she recomended physical thearpy.

He also had carpal tunnel is his left hand but after what happended to his right, he will not have surgery again.

Originally posted by theck:
Lefty I had a similiar outcome from this 'simple' surgery......I have alot of info that will help you.....contact me asap

Hi, I'm new to this board, I tried to post but don't see it, anyway, I was wondering how you know if your Median nerve is damaged, my husband has carpal tunnel surgery on his right hand back in Dec, has had no relief, when he told his Doctor she recomended physical therapy..

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Hey cook4........If the median nerve was damaged the way it was in my case he would know notice a huge difference..complete numbness in any or part of your first three fingers and the most unbelivable pain you could imagine...t.heck Originally posted by Cook4Andy:
Hi, I'm new to this board, I tried to post but don't see it, anyway, I was wondering how you know if your Median nerve is damaged, my husband has carpal tunnel surgery on his right hand back in Dec, has had no relief, when he told his Doctor she recomended physical therapy..

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

cook4....If I were you I would do some major research on finding the best hand doc in your area.......call every physical therapy in the area and ask who they recommened then call every med. malpractice attorney and ask them the same.You will probably notice a name that keeps popping up......that's the one.....Also if you have a university med center within range there should be a ortho. guy that does hands only... that's ussually the best out there...God Bless.....theck Originally posted by Cook4Andy:
Hi, I'm new to this board, I tried to post but don't see it, anyway, I was wondering how you know if your Median nerve is damaged, my husband has carpal tunnel surgery on his right hand back in Dec, has had no relief, when he told his Doctor she recomended physical therapy..

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Theck, thank you for your response, will do as you suggest!

Have a great day.

Theck
Can you give me any info on median nerve damage? I had an operation on the 28th of January and the Doctors severed my median nerve.
Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You

Hey Theck- How is your hand now?