What to Expect During Your Nerve Surgery

Most nerve surgeries are outpatient procedures. Dr. Hatef will meet you in the preoperative holding area to discuss the procedure and draw the incision for you before you go to sleep. You’ll meet your anesthesiologist in the pre-op area as well and discuss what type of anesthesia needed for the case. Many nerve surgeries are done with heavy sedation and numbing medication, while some surgeries still require traditional general anesthesia.

When you go back to the operating room, your anesthesia team will perform a safety check prior to starting any sedating medication. Dr. Hatef and the surgical team will then proceed with the surgery.  You will wake up in the postoperative area and begin recovery. Most incisions are closed with absorbable sutures and skin glue. Operations on the hands or feet are often closed with traditional, non-absorbable sutures that will be removed after two weeks.

When you get home the area of your operation will likely be wrapped in a soft bandage. He will remove your bandage after one day and begin range of motion exercises as tolerated. A good rule of thumb is that if it hurts, you are doing too much. Dr. Hatef does not believe in immobilization after nerve surgery and believes that for long periods without movement can actually make pain worse. Moving the affected limb during the recovery process is essential to making sure you have the best outcome possible.

After two weeks the skin glue will have fallen off or the sutures removed.  You will continue to have improvement for weeks to come. After surgery on the limbs, there can be significant swelling that is often worse on the first or second day after surgery. This quickly starts to ease up and at two weeks you should be on your way to recovery

Dr. Hatef will see you in the office at two weeks and six weeks to make sure the incision is healing well and your condition is improving. He is always available by phone outside your scheduled appointments.