Based on a pivotal paper by Geremia et al; in the rat the difference in the number of regenerated sensory axons following 1h ES was 397+/-321 (SD) compared to the controls. With the type I error set at 0.05 and the type II error at 0.80, a sample size of 20 would be needed in the treatment group and the same number in the control group. To account for 10% of potential patients loss to follow-up we aim to recruit a total of 66 patients. An interim analysis will be done by the data monitoring team once the first 10 patients have completed their 6 month follow-up.