How could merely separating two toes in the middle cause nerve damage?
Zhou Can couldn't help but recall the patient's postoperative wound condition again.
Could it be that the nerve distribution of the third toe of the left foot is on the side adjacent to the fourth toe? And then during the separation, the nerve got severed?
This possibility is quite high.
Of course, it could also be that the skin was pulled too tightly while suturing the wound, compressing the nerve. Additionally, postoperative localized hematoma pressing on the nerve is also a possible cause.
The patient clearly felt the third toe of the left foot pre-surgery, but now it's numb, definitely caused by the surgery.
After studying this for a long time without much progress, Zhou Can decided to have another look during ward rounds tomorrow morning.
Hastily rushing to Cardiothoracic Surgery to help complete two major Level 4 surgeries is besides the point.
