Published on February 9, 2010 at 6:29 AM
The Plastic Surgery Center today announced that an innovative nerve
graft transplant performed by Dr. Andrew Elkwood has proven to be
successful in treating and preventing posterior pressure ulcers – one of
the leading causes of mortality among paraplegics. 49-year old Tory
Cavalieri, who underwent the procedure last January, has regained
sensation in his posterior and is free of acute pressure sores, which
had left him bedridden for years.
“We are absolutely thrilled with Tory’s results and the incredible
implications for the wheelchair-bound community at large”
“We are absolutely thrilled with Tory’s results and the incredible
implications for the wheelchair-bound community at large,” said Dr.
Elkwood. “The success of this procedure can prove to be life-changing
for tens of thousands of people worldwide whose lives are subjugated by
acute posterior sores.”
The nerve graft, which was performed by Dr. Elkwood in January 2009, was
intended to restore sensation to the posterior of Mr. Cavalieri, who
suffered from acute pressure sores. As part of the two-hour procedure,
Dr. Elkwood and his team removed 12 inches of functioning sural nerve
from Mr. Cavalieri’s leg and attached a nerve from his rib area to the
sciatic nerve in his leg. Mr. Cavalieri, of Morganville, N.J., had
become paralyzed after breaking his spinal cord in a motorcycle accident
on Labor Day weekend 2004. He was previously a competitive Motorcross
racer for more than 12 years, and a former NASCAR-licensed, late-model
stock car driver.
SOURCE The Plastic Surgery Center