Nerve-sparing surgery is a type of surgery

Surgery

Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...

 that attempts to save the nerves near the tissues being removed.

It is commonly applied in radical retropubic prostatectomy

Radical retropubic prostatectomy

Radical retropubic prostatectomy is a surgical procedure in which the prostate gland is removed through an incision in the abdomen. It is most often used to treat individuals who have early prostate cancer. Radical retropubic prostatectomy can be performed under general, spinal, or epidural...

 where surgeons may visually identify the cavernous nerves of penis

Cavernous nerves of penis

The cavernous nerves are post-ganglionic parasympathetic nerves that facilitate penile erection. They arise from cell bodies in the inferior hypogastric plexus where they receive the pre-ganglionic pelvic splanchnic nerves ....

 or apply an electrical stimulation penile plethysmograph

Penile plethysmograph

Penile plethysmography , or "phallometry", refers to measurement of bloodflow to the male genital. The most commonly reported methods of conducting penile plethysmography involve the measurement of the circumference of the penis with a mercury-in-rubber strain gauge, or the volume of the penis with...

diagnostic test to verify the nerves. The bilateral approach attempts to spare the nerves on both sides of the prostate. The unilateral approach is specific to one side, usually because the prostate cancer has spread to prevent a bilateral nerve sparing approach.

External links

• Nerve-sparing surgery entry in the public domain NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms