ArticlePlastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open2021
Impact of Nerve Surgery on Opioid and Medication Use in Patients with Chronic Nerve Injuries.
Article in Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pain medication and nerve injuries in upper or lower limb-a Swedish national registry study.Pain reports · 2026Article
- Mechanisms for reducing/eliminating chronic neuropathic pain with a focus on platelet-rich plasma.Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.) · 2025Review
- Patient reported symptoms and disabilities before and after neuroma surgery: a register-based study.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Surgical Technique for Targeted Muscle Reinnervation in Knee Disarticulation Amputation for Nonambulatory Patients.Plastic and reconstructive surgery. Global open · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionLimited information is available regarding the ability of nerve surgery to affect medication use patterns in patients with chronic pain or neuropathy due to nerve injury.
methodsA retrospective survey was distributed to all operative patients (N = 767) from a single nerve surgeon's practice between 2014 and 2020. Data collected included demographics, specifics of the injury and symptoms, medication and opioid use before surgery, and medication/opioid use following surgery.
resultsOut of the 767 patients, 209 (27.2%) completed the survey. Average age was 48.8 (SD = 19.1) years; 68.9% female and 31.1% male. More than 50% of the patients took at least three medications. More than 50% of the patients after surgery did not need medication or had significant reduction; 54.1% of the patients took opioid medication daily, and 97.3% of patients reported that narcotic medications did not resolve their problem. Patients rated the effectiveness (Likert scale 0-10) of opioid medications in general at an average 3.25 ± 2.03. Of patients who took opioids regularly, 61.6% reported a negative effect of these medications on daily or professional activities. After surgery, more than 50% of the patients did not need opioids or had a significant reduction in opioid usage.
conclusionsUntreated nerve injuries lead to ongoing chronic pain, explaining why medications are mostly ineffective in eliminating symptoms. In this study, nerve surgery targeting the anatomical source of symptoms effectively reduced both opioid and nonopioid medication use.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.