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Bilateral sural nerve harvest in adult patients: a plastic surgery medical residency experience in Brazil

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European Journal of Plastic Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Sural nerve is an excellent nerve for harvest and reconstructive applications for plastic surgeons and should be learned since medical residency. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the number of patients undergoing bilateral removal of the sural nerve in a training center and to investigate if there is a difference in symptoms after 30 months of follow-up.

Methods

In this study, adult male patients were selected by convenience sampling method, who agreed to answer the questionnaire electronically and by telephone regarding symptoms after bilateral sural nerve removal. Data were tabulated and analyzed for comparison with the literature.

Results

Forty patients answered the questionnaire completely, and only one patient with more than 30 months of surgery had pain (p = 0.12). Twenty-three patients (57.5%) did not have any problems secondary to bilateral sural nerve removal (p = 0.96).

Conclusion

Removal of the sural nerve in plastic surgery training services is a safe and well-accepted method for patients.

Level of evidence: Level IV, risk / prognostic study.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plastic Surgery, Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu, Hospital das Clínicas, Botucatu, Brazil

    Balduino Ferreira de Menezes Neto, Fausto Viterbo, Murilo Sgarbi Secanho, Weber Ribolli Moragas & Laísa Brandão Carvalho

Authors
  1. Balduino Ferreira de Menezes Neto
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  2. Fausto Viterbo
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  3. Murilo Sgarbi Secanho
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  4. Weber Ribolli Moragas
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  5. Laísa Brandão Carvalho
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Contributions

Balduino Ferreira de Menezes Neto: conception, design, manuscript writing, intellectual and scientific content of the study. Fausto Viterbo: manuscript writing, critical revision. Murilo Secanho: design and scientific content of the study. Weber Moragas: design and scientific content of the study. Laísa Carvalho: design and scientific content of the study.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Balduino Ferreira de Menezes Neto.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee under number 4.481.021 and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The Human Investigation Committee (IRB) of University of State of São Paulo approved this study (#4481021).

Consent to participate

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Consent for publication

Patients signed informed consent regarding publishing their data and photographs.

Conflict of interest

Balduino Ferreira de Menezes Neto, Fausto Viterbo, Murilo Sgarbi Secanho, Weber Ribolli Moragas, and Laísa Brandão Carvalho declare no conflict of interest.

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de Menezes Neto, B.F., Viterbo, F., Secanho, M.S. et al. Bilateral sural nerve harvest in adult patients: a plastic surgery medical residency experience in Brazil. Eur J Plast Surg 45, 327–332 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00238-021-01867-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00238-021-01867-5

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