FUT numbness

[johnny123]

I had a FUT operation and the Dr said he severed both the occipital artery and the occipital nerve. The back of my head is numb. He never mentioned this as a risk, did he screw up or is this normal? He didn't tell me until I repeatedly asked him why my head was numb.

[voxman]

I am sure you will get the 'who was your surgeon' questions, but I would suggest we all wait for a response from a medical Dr on this or someone who has had the same artery/nerve problem.  Did your Doctor give any indication of the prognosis?

[ciaus]

Voxman is right, you want doctor responses. Just adding some textbook images/descriptions for anyone else fascinated by human anatomy and health, or just to help follow the topic.

 

Function

The main function of the occipital artery is to supply oxygenated blood to the muscles of the upper neck and scalp, but it is not its only function.1 In fact, the occipital artery is responsible for more than the occipital area as it has several branches, in addition to the upper and lower ones.

 

The individual branches of the occipital artery supply blood to different parts of the neck, face, head, and ears.

• The muscular branches supply the digastric below the jaw and longus capitis, a pre-vertebral muscle in the neck.
• The auricular branch supplies blood to the back of the ears.
• The meningeal branch supplies the dura mater of the posterior cranial fossa.
• The sternocleidomastoid branch divides the upper and lower branches.
• The descending branch is the largest of all the branches of the occipital artery starting in the back of the neck and dividing into two parts: one that supplies the trapezius muscle (the large muscle bundle extending from the back of the head and neck to the shoulder) and another part connecting to the vertebral artery (an artery of the neck that is a major source of blood to the brain).

 

 

The occipital nerves collectively share a variety of functions that stem from the parent function, which acts as the main nerve supply of the scalp and most of the head. These nerves transmit information back and forth between their originating location in the spinal column and the brain. The greater occipital nerve and lesser occipital nerve share this responsibility.

Edited August 10, 2020 by ciaus

[asterix0]

This is very scary and I hope you heal well OP. The higher invasiveness of the FUT procedure certainly worries me and makes me lean towards FUE, not to consider the scar itself. 

[Al - Moderator]

How long ago was the FUT done? They cut a long strip out of the back of your head, so you are going to have nerves and blood vessels cut. There's no way around that. It can take several months or more for the numbness to go away in some patients. I don't know if that's all he was trying to tell you or if it's a lot worse than that in your case.

 

[ShadowMoon]

Sounds like he had to go below the subcutaneous layer. Or, you could have weird anatomy and your artery/nerve ran up into the fat layer at that spot. Permanent loss of sensation should have been detailed in your signed consent form.

[johnny123]

On 8/11/2020 at 4:17 AM, BeHappy said:

How long ago was the FUT done? They cut a long strip out of the back of your head, so you are going to have nerves and blood vessels cut. There's no way around that. It can take several months or more for the numbness to go away in some patients. I don't know if that's all he was trying to tell you or if it's a lot worse than that in your case.

 

5 weeks ago. Cutting the occipital artery and nerve is not standard. It's a mishap. And it shouldn't happen. The surgeon is part of IAHRS and is in Nor cal