femoral nerve damage
I had total knee replacement surgery on 3/23/06. During PT we discovered that I could not lift my leg while lying down nor could I lift my leg from the knee up while sitting on the table.
I was told that my quads are not functioning and that I had femoral nerve damage.
My ortho surgeon said that it will take time to repair.
Is this true.
Should I be worried? ThanksLH
1 Comment found
May PT
Ahh, femoral nerve damage… I guess my first question to the doc would be what type of damage was it…was it nicked, stretched or even cut. Nerves outside of the spinal cord have the capacity to regenerate (unlike the nerves inside the spinal cord that cannot). However, if the nerve was damaged to such an extent that it cannot repair itself, you will see no return. I usually tell my patients give it a year and what you have after that is pretty much what you will be left with. Nerves regenerate at a rate of about 1 millimeter/day.
Hope this helps