Neurapraxia

Classification according to ICD-10
T14.4	Injury to one or more nerves in an unspecified region of the body
ICD-10 online (WHO version 2019)

Neurapraxia (Gr. Νεῦρον = nerve, ἀπραξία = inactivity) describes the malfunction of a nerve , which is usually caused by stretching or pressure . It represents the mildest form of nerve injury; neither the individual nerve cells themselves nor the envelope structures are damaged in their continuity.

Demarcation

According to the classification of the British orthopedic surgeon Sir Herbert Seddon (1903–1977), neurapraxia is differentiated from the more serious forms of damage axonotmesis (with axonal continuity violation ) and neurotmesis (complete severing of a nerve).

	Scheme of an intact nerve
	Neurapraxia	Axon and envelope tissue are preserved.
	Axonotmesis	The axon is severed, but the covering tissue is preserved.
	Neurotmesis	Complete severing of the nerve and its envelope structures

causes

Neurapraxia is common. It can occur, for example, when the elbow or wrist is propped up frequently and for a long time; the ulnar nerve is usually affected here. In slender people, when the legs are crossed, damage to the common peroneal nerve sometimes occurs. Furthermore, neurapraxia appears as so-called pressure paralysis in sleep : If the arms or legs are poorly positioned during sleep, numbness and paralysis of the limbs can occur (see park bench paralysis ).

forecast

The prognosis, i.e. the chances of recovery, are consistently good with neurapraxia: the conductivity of the nerves is maintained before and after the location of the damage. The symptoms usually resolve completely spontaneously within days to weeks ( restitutio ad integrum ).

therapy

The treatment results largely from the statements on the prognosis: Neurapraxy does not require any therapy. Occasionally the administration of vitamin B is advocated for nerve damage . The benefits are controversial.

literature

Herbert Seddon: Surgical disorders of the peripheral nerves . Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh 1975, ISBN 0-443-01264-4 .
Hans-Henning Horch (Hrsg.) Among others: Oral and maxillofacial surgery - practice of dentistry. Volume 10, Urban & Fischer, Munich / Jena 2006, ISBN 3-437-05417-1 .
Marco Mumenthaler , Manfred Stöhr, Hermann Müller-Vahl: Lesions of peripheral nerves and radicular syndromes. 8th edition. Thieme Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-13-380208-9 .