Nerve crush--a possible treatment of peripheral neuralgia.

Twenty-three patients with neuralgic pain (mean duration 3 years) were treated with crushing instead of sectioning the peripheral nerve. There was immediate relief of pain in 19 patients (83%). With the return of skin sensation the pain recurred after 3-4 months in 4 patients and within 2.5 years in another 3 patients. Twelve (52%) of the patients felt no pain at follow-up after 3-6 years. Eight of the 12 patients (67%) who were free of pain at follow-up were still anaesthetic in the area; pain had returned in 6 of the 10 patients (60%) with normal skin sensation. There were no cases of postoperative deafferentation pain, and those 4 patients who did not experience any relief after nerve crush all had a restitutio ad integrum.