Final answer:
The risk factors for perioperative peripheral nerve injury include age, obesity, diabetes, and prolonged surgery duration. The PNS is more vulnerable to injury than the CNS due to its lack of protective structures and barriers. These factors are essential to manage in order to minimize the risk of nerve injury during surgery.
Step-by-step explanation:
The risk factors for perioperative peripheral nerve injury include several patient-related and procedural factors. Among these risk factors are age, with older patients being more susceptible, obesity, which can contribute to nerve compression, and diabetes, a condition that can exacerbate nerve damage due to its association with both macrovascular and microvascular complications. Other significant risk factors include a prolonged surgery duration, which increases the likelihood of nerve damage due to positioning and pressure effects.
Unlike the Central Nervous System (CNS), the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) lacks protective structures such as bones, meninges, and cerebrospinal fluid, and it does not have a blood-brain barrier to defend against toxins and pathogens. This makes the PNS more vulnerable to injury and disease, with effects manifesting as loss of feeling, tingling, burning sensations, or muscle weakness. In the context of surgery, these risk factors must be carefully managed to minimize the risk of peripheral nerve injury.