Some offices are experiencing phone delays. To schedule or reschedule an appointment, please use MyChart or Find a Doctor. For non-urgent questions, please send your care team a message through MyChart.

If you need help accessing our website, call 855-698-9991
Skip to main content

Plasma Exchange for Peripheral Neuropathy

NYU Langone doctors may recommend a procedure called plasmapheresis, also known as plasma exchange. It is a treatment option for people with certain types of peripheral neuropathy that cause inflammation in the body, such as chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, a neurological disorder that causes progressive weakness and impaired sensory function in the legs and arms.

Schedule an Appointment

Browse our specialists and get the care you need.

Find a Doctor & Schedule

Blood is composed of several components—red and white blood cells and platelets, which are suspended in plasma. Plasma is the fluid part of the blood that carries the cells and platelets. 

During this outpatient procedure, doctors insert a needle into a vein in the arm and use a tube to connect it to a machine that withdraws blood. The machine eliminates the cells causing the inflammation and returns the “cleaned” plasma and other blood components back to the body.

People with peripheral neuropathy may need plasma exchange on an outpatient basis. Side effects include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.

Plasma exchange can help people with some forms of peripheral neuropathy enter a state of remission, in which the signs and symptoms of the condition disappear.

Our Research and Education in Peripheral Neuropathy

Learn more about our research and professional education opportunities.