A patient with severe nerve pain from spinal cord compression is considering surgery to sever the nerves and relieve the pain. What should the nurse encourage the patient to consider prior to having this surgery?
1. There may be loss of motor function associated with the nerves that will be severed.
2. The surgery will need to be repeated when the nerves regenerate.
3. Pain medication will still be needed after the surgery.
4. The patient will be a paraplegic after the surgery.
Correct Answer: 1
Motor function loss is an unwelcome side effect of some surgeries, so the patient needs to consider the amount and degree of potential motor loss. The nerves will not regenerate, so surgery will not need to be repeated. Pain medication may or may not be needed after the surgery. Not all surgeries to sever nerves to control pain result in paraplegia.
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