Abstract
Nerve injuries sustained during armed conflict will ultimately determine the functionality of the injured limb, thus justifying an aggressive initial or early surgical treatment. In cases of concomitant lesions of the limb requiring an emergency procedure, nerve exploration should be mandatory, with an immediate repair in low-velocity and selected cases of medium-velocity injuries. In high-velocity injuries, however, the risk of local infection and the usual extensive nerve damage justify delaying the repair for 2–3 weeks. In cases of highly suspected neuropraxia, surgery may be delayed up to 1–3 months, as guided by clinical and electrodiagnostic findings. In our opinion, the risk of leaving a nerve lesion untreated justifies its early exploration, and outweighs the risk of performing a superfluous neurolysis.
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Pidhorz, C. (2011). Peripheral Nerve Injury. In: Lerner, A., Soudry, M. (eds) Armed Conflict Injuries to the Extremities. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-16155-1_12
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