A patient suffers nerve damage to the sciatic nerve, requiring surgery to suture the nerve back together. After surgery, the patient reports that sensation from the lateral and medial sides of the knee seem to be reversed. How could this happen?

What will be an ideal response?


In suturing the nerve back together, there is no guide to ensure that each nerve fiber continues across the transection into the same neurilemma in which it started. Nerve fibers can grow into pathways different from their original ones and establish new synapses. The brain cannot keep track of which nerve fibers have grown into different pathways, and projects sensations back to the point of origin.

Anatomy & Physiology

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