BOSTON, MA
(Enter your address, street, city, state, zip) 611 Main St, Winchester, MA 01890
Ph:781-721-0500
Fx:781-721-5719
 Virginia Hung, M.D. I have spent over a decade in medical and surgical training in Boston: first, as a Harvard medical student, then as a surgical resident at the BIDMC, and finally as a resident in the Harvard Combined Plastic Surgery Program. This training allowed me to treat problems all over the body in all age groups, from the simple to the complex.
During my training, I became aware of a lack of effective treatments for patients with neuropathy and nerve injuries. As a medical student at the then Deaconess Hospital, famed for its treatment of diabetic peripheral vascular disease, I encountered my first patients with advanced neuropathic ulcers who were treated with amputations. As a general surgical and plastic surgical resident a few years later, I would meet patients who did not seem to get better after what should have been a "definitive" procedure. Patients with pain after a routine inguinal hernia repair. Patients treated for ankle sprains or fractures who continued to have pain despite being "healed". Patients with painful incisions which marred their surgical result. I recall one woman who had an abdominoplasty and developed pain radiating down her thigh when she ran on the treadmill. Our surgical team recognized there was a nerve injury, but did not know how it should be treated. With these patients, we were outwardly compassionate but inwardly frustrated at not knowing what to do.
When I went to Baltimore to train in hand surgery at Union Memorial Hospital, I began to work with Dr. Dellon. The first patient I saw with him was an older diabetic gentleman who had a nerve decompression procedure performed on one leg for painful diabetic neuropathy. He had returned to have the other leg treated,but not before he had a toe amputated for a neuropathic ulcer. There was no doubt this foot had lost much sensation. To my great surprise, when Dr. Dellon reached out to "tickle" his foot in the recovery room, the man actually giggled and pulled his foot away! Imagine my astonishment at realizing there was hope for patients who had lost feeling. As I continued to see patients with Dr. Dellon, I learned this hope extended to patients with other types of neuropathy or chronic pain after many types of surgery or injuries.
From my training in Boston, I knew the need was great for this type of special work. There are still many patients and doctors who believe nothing can be done for neuropathy and nerve injuries. One reason for having a Dellon Institute in Boston is to teach patients and their providers which types of peripheral nerve problems can be treated surgically. The best result? When a patient tells me they can now "sleep through the night", when they feel they are "walking better", or when they no longer need to take medications for their pain.
Dr. A. Lee Dellon, M.D. graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1966 and from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1970. He then completed eight years of additional training, including two years of research at the National Cancer Institute, Surgery Branch, of the National Institutes of Health. He completed a Plastic Surgery Residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and a Hand Surgery Fellowship at the Raymond M. Curtis Hand Center. Dr. Dellon has received the Certificate of Added Qualifications in Hand Surgery and is Board Certified in Plastic Surgery. He is currently a Professor of Plastic Surgery and a Professor of Neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is also Professor of Plastic Surgery and Neurosurgery at the University of Arizona.
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