Innovative nerve graft transplant successful in treatment and prevention of posterior pressure ulcers

Feb 9 2010

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.