A patient suffers nerve damage to the sciatic nerve, requiring surgery to suture the nerve together. After surgery, the patient reports that sensation from the lateral and medial sides of the knee seem to be reversed. How could this happen?

The innervation of the sciatic nerve sends sensation to the knee (Medial and lateral aspects). A large nerve sutured together may be rotated 90 degrees and attached. The branch that bifercates gets the wrong signal. Basically, the surgeon slightly rolled the distal portion of severed nerve and sutured it facing the wrong way. I believe that this sensation may be correctable simply by time.