Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 14, 2026
Structured Motor Rehabilitation After Selective Nerve Transfers
Published on: August 15, 2019
Does early repair of lingual nerve injuries improve functional sensory recovery?
Srinivas M Susarla1, Leonard B Kaban, R Bruce Donoff
1Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
Purpose:
This study evaluated the relationship between timing of lingual nerve repair and functional sensory recovery.
Materials And Methods:
Using a retrospective cohort study design, the investigators enrolled a sample of subjects who had lingual nerve repair. The predictor variable was time between injury and repair, categorized as early (<90 days after injury) or late (>90 days after injury). The outcome variable was the time to functional sensory recovery (FSR), measured in days. Other variables were categorized as demographic, anatomic, and operative. Uni- and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the association between the timing of the repair and time to FSR.
Results:
The study sample was composed of 64 subjects who had lingual nerve repair between January 1998 and January 2005. The mean time between injury and repair was 153.2 (31-1606) days; 21.9% of subjects had early repair. The mean age was 28.4 +/- 8.0 years, 62.5% of subjects were female; 77% of the injured nerves were repaired by direct suture, and 23% had surgical exploration with decompression/neurolysis. In bivariate analyses, early repair, method of repair, and neuroma were statistically or near-statistically associated with time to FSR (P
Conclusions:
Early repair of lingual nerve injuries results in FSR more frequently and earlier than late repair.
