Having numbness from shoulder down after amputation of middle finger

A year ago my husband was injured overseas while fighting for our country. He was doing a random search with a partner, nothing uncommon they did them daily, but they checked a car on the side of the road this day. It was suspicious looking and they were required to check any and everything that look odd, bomb went off. My husband's partner died and my husband sustained an injury to his hand.  He had multiple surgeries after returning from overseas but 3 month's before he had his last one he lost all movement of the middle finger. He is Air Force Cop and needless to say injured hand again. In May of this year they removed his middle finger, bone and all up to his wrist. Now, here it is end of July and a week ago he started having severe numbness in his entire arm. Phantom pains get worse and he is in severe pain. The numbness will last anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. Is there a possibility of nerve damage that was caused during surgery? He has seen a military doctor who keeps putting off taking an MRI..he's waiting on a referral...The doctor has us scared something serious could be wrong. Is there any thing else that could be wrong?

[DrNoopurMD]

Hi,

How are you?
Yes the numbness does indicate nerve damage which may have occurred during surgery.
It is important that he undergoes an MRI soon as only then an exact diagnosis can be made. Please push for a scan and keep us posted!

[usafwife]

Hi.
I am good. How are you?

Is there anything else that could be causing the numbness ?

[DrNoopurMD]

Hi,

I am doing fine. Thank You.
The other cause of numbness in the arm could be a nerve compression in the cervical region (neck). Pinched nerves usually cause numbness in the affected area.
Other causes of numbness include a vitamin B deficiency and diabetes. Hope this helps!