Pathophysiology of nerve entrapment
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Nerve entrapment involves a cascade of physiological changes caused by compression and tension. Some of these changes are irreversible.[1] The magnitude and duration of the forces determines the extent of injury.[2] In the acute form, mechanical injury and metabolic blocks impede nerve function. In the chronic form, there is a sequence of changes starting with a breakdown of the blood-nerve-barrier, followed by edema with connective tissue changes, followed by diffuse demyelination, and finally followed by axonmetesis.[3] The injury will often be a mixed lesion where mild/moderate compression is a combination of a metabolic block and neuropraxia, while severe compression combines elements of neuropraxia and axonmetesis.[4][2]