If medical examination and expertise exclude competing diagnoses and conclude that significant nerve compression exists, detailed study by mri (magnetic resonance imaging) will reveal the precise location and degree of nerve compression. Experienced practitioners can make sound judgments from detailed information like this. Patients with large focal nerve compression can avoid watching their
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nerve dwindle away; likewise, patients with small, diffuse, or non-correlating abnormalities can be spared surgical efforts that have little prospect for success.
