[FuzzyUK (OP)]

Did anyone see 'Real Rescues' on BBC1 TV yesterday morning? A guy gets his lower arm COMPLETELY chopped off by some gardening equipment and the surgeons get him back into working shape after operating on him for 17 hours. UK residents will be able to view this on BBC iPlayer for the next 5 days. Sorry, other countries excluded from watching.

Jump 35 min 10 seconds into the video:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00p26yb/Real_Rescues_Series_4_Episode_12/

I can understand how arteries and veins can be sowed together but how do surgeons go about repairing nerves successfully? I thought damaged nerve tissue could not regenerate.

[RD]

The nerves in the arm are part of the peripheral nervous system (PNS), which have different properties from those in the Central nervous system (CNS) which consists of the brain and spinal cord...

While the peripheral nervous system has an intrinsic ability for repair and regeneration, the central nervous system is, for the most part, incapable of self-repair and regeneration.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroregeneration


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripheral_nervous_system