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Updated: Jun 29, 2025
Author Spotlight: Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interface (RPNI) Surgery in Postamputation Pain Management
Published on: March 15, 2024
Combined Targeted Muscle Reinnervation With Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interfaces Decreases Long-Term Narcotic Use
Corinne Wee1, Samuel Boas2, Cristin Coquillard3
1From the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA.
Purpose:
Combined targeted muscle reinnervation with regenerative peripheral nerve interfaces ("TMRpni") is a recently described nerve management strategy that leverages beneficial elements of targeted muscle reinnervation (TMR) and regenerative peripheral nerve interface (RPNI) techniques. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of TMRpni on long-term opioid consumption after amputation. We hypothesize that TMRpni decreases chronic opioid consumption in amputees.
Methods:
This is a retrospective cohort study of all patients who underwent TMRpni between 2019 and 2021. These patients were age-matched at a 1:1 ratio with a control group of patients who underwent amputation without TMRpni. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS Version 28.0.
Results:
Thirty-one age-matched pairs of patients in the TMRpni and control groups were included. At 30 days after surgery, there was no significant difference in number of patients who required an additional refill of their opioid prescriptions (45% vs 55%, P = 0.45) or patients who continued to actively use opioids (36% vs 42%, P = 0.60). However, at 90 days after surgery, there was a significantly lower number of patients from the TMRpni group who reported continued opioid use compared with the control group (10% vs 32%, P = 0.03).
Conclusions:
This study demonstrates that TMRpni may translate to decreased rates of chronic opiate use. Continued study is indicated to optimize TMRpni techniques and patient selection and to determine its long-term efficacy.
