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Nerve Biopsy

In a nerve biopsy, a small sample of your nerve is removed from your body and examined in a laboratory. A nerve biopsy may be necessary if you have numbness, pain, or weakness in places such as your fingers or toes. It can help to determine what your symptoms are caused by. A nerve biopsy is usually only performed when all other options have failed in determining the cause of a disease. It is an outpatient procedure that is performed under local anesthetic.

What can a nerve biopsy tell you?

A nerve biopsy can tell you what the numbness, pain, or weakness you are feeling in your extremities is caused by. It can tell you if the feeling is caused by damage to the myelin sheath, damage to the small nerves, destruction of the axon in the nerve cells, or neuropathies.

How its Performed

The sample piece of nerve is always taken from an affected area. For the three different types of nerve biopsies, there is a slightly different procedure. But, for all of them, you will be given an anesthetic to numb the area that you will be operated on. You will also remain awake for the procedure regardless of the type. Your doctor will make a small incision and to remove part of the nerve and then close your incision with stitches. Once the nerve has been removed from your body, it is then sent to a laboratory for examination.

Types

Sensory Nerve Biopsy

For this procedure, a 1-inch patch of sensory nerve is removed from your ankle or shin and you may experience temporary or permanent numbness on the top or side of your foot.

Selective Motor Nerve Biopsy

A nerve sample is taken from your inner thigh when a motor nerve is affected.

Fascicular Nerve Biopsy

In this procedure, the nerve is exposed and separated then given a small electrical impulse to decide which nerve should be removed and examined.

Risks

The biggest risk that you face in having a nerve biopsy is long term nerve damage and permanent loss of feeling. While this is uncommon, it is still a risk when having a nerve biopsy done. Other small risks that you face are discomfort after the procedure, allergic reaction to the anesthetic, and infection.