Spinal Nerve Root Repair After Brachial Plexus Injury

✓ Brachial plexus palsy due to traction injury, especially spinal nerve-root avulsion, represents a severe handicap for the patient. Despite recent progress in diagnosis and microsurgical repair, the prognosis in such cases remains unfavorable. Nerve transfer is the only possibility for repair in cases of spinal nerve-root avulsion. This technique was analyzed in 37 patients with 64 reinnervation procedures of the musculocutaneous and/or axillary nerve using upper intercostal, spinal accessory, and regional nerves as donors. The most favorable results, with an 83.8% overall rate of useful functional recovery, were obtained in patients with upper brachial plexus palsy in which regional donor nerves, such as the medial pectoral, thoracodorsal, long thoracic, and subscapular nerves, had been used. The overall rates of recovery for the spinal accessory and upper intercostal nerves were 64.3% and 55.5%, respectively, which are significantly lower. The authors evaluate the results of nerve transfer and analyze different donor nerves as factors influencing the prognosis of surgical repair.

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Application of on-line analytical processing in evaluating factors influencing effect of posterior lumbar internal fixation in treatment of lumbar spinal nerve root damage

Academic Journal of Second Military Medical University ◽

10.3724/sp.j.1008.2010.00691 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 30 (6) ◽

pp. 691-693

Author(s):

Guo-dong SHI ◽

Yue-ping OUYANG ◽

Jian-gang SHI ◽

Lian-shun Jia ◽

Wen YUAN

Keyword(s):

Internal Fixation ◽

Nerve Root ◽

Spinal Nerve ◽

Spinal Nerve Root ◽

Root Damage ◽

Factors Influencing ◽

On Line ◽

Analytical Processing ◽

On Line Analytical Processing ◽

Lumbar Spinal

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Epithelioid Schwannoma of a Spinal Nerve Root

Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences / Journal Canadien des Sciences Neurologiques ◽

10.1017/cjn.2015.340 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 43 (3) ◽

pp. 430-433 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rachael A. Vaubel ◽

Howard T. Chang ◽

Karen Fritchie ◽

Patrice C. Abell Aleff ◽

Mark E. Jentoft

Keyword(s):

Nerve Root ◽

Spinal Nerve ◽

Spinal Nerve Root

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The Diagnostic Value of MRI in Traumatic Brachial Plexus Injury

Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume) ◽

10.1016/0266-7681(94)90050-7 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 55-59 ◽

Cited By ~ 44

Author(s):

M. OCHI ◽

Y. IKUTA ◽

M. WATANABE ◽

K. KIMOR ◽

K. ITOH

Keyword(s):

Brachial Plexus ◽

Nerve Root ◽

Brachial Plexus Injury ◽

Diagnostic Value ◽

Resonance Imaging ◽

Nerve Roots ◽

Surgical Exploration ◽

Nerve Root Avulsion ◽

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri ◽

The Individual

Findings in 34 patients with traumatic brachial plexus injury documented by surgical exploration and intra-operative somatosensory-evoked potentials were correlated with findings on myelography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to determine whether MRI can identify nerve root avulsion. The coronal and sagittal planes were not able to demonstrate avulsion of the individual nerve roots. The axial and axial oblique planes did provide useful information to determine which nerve root was avulsed in the upper plexus, although it was difficult to clearly delineate the lower cervical rootlets. The accuracy of MRI was 73% for C5 and 64% for C6 and that of myelograpby 63% for C5 and 64% for C6. Thus, the diagnostic accuracy of MRI for upper nerve roots was slightly superior to myelography. Although its primary diagnostic value is limited to the upper nerve roots whose avulsion is relatively difficult to diagnose by myelography, MRI can provide useful guidance in the waiting period prior to surgical exploration after brachial plexus injury.

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