Double Entrapment Neuropathy

Hello,
I've just spent two years figuring out why I was in extreme pain and muscle dysfunction. After a right ankle sprain in July 2007, my superficial peroneal nerve became trapped between my peroneal muscles and fibula 10cm proximal to lat. malleolus. This entrapment was severe ("not going to budge -- orthopaedic surgeon) and in an extended position. This caused traction at the L5 nerve root, which subsequently became trapped and neurological symptoms developed.

It took me ages to figure this out (I did it alone in a study room for 15 hours per day over 2 years -- I am not a medical expert). I've just had the L5 nerve root decompressed surgically and the neuropathic pain has disappeared. My foot drop and weakness persists -- wondering what the chances of a full recovery might be. The medical literature doesn't seem to make this clear.

Thanks for any tips.

medical literature doesnt really make this info clearly available because there is such variance in cases like this.

there are a couple of factors. the severity of insult to the nerve, be it compression or traction as you say in your case. the length of time that the nerve has been under this traction or compression force. its very difficult to ascertain how much actual damage has been done to nerves in cases like this.

an indicator can be the extent of neurological disturbance. do you have purely motor deficits ie movement or do you have sensory disturbance in and around the lower leg aswell?

i would expect return of muscle function to take months maybe even into years when you take into account your history. but then i couldnt promise that there will be return either. a specific rehab programme and maybe the help of electrical stim would help.

Thanks for the response. The only disturbance I have is across the dorsum of my foot starting slightly anterior to the lateral malleolus (tinel sign) and across the top of the hallux and second toe i.e. the SPN distribution.

Otherwise, I have only weakness and muscle contracture.

I wish I could get a decent idea of prognosis and/or what I can to improve the chance. I am 15 days post-op.

I feel I should also mention I had a major improvement immediately after surgery -- in terms of both pain and functional deficit.