Median Nerve to Musculocutaneous Nerve Transfer for Restoring Elbow Flexion in Obstetric Brachial Plexus palsy

Azab, Ahmed Abo Hashem; Saied, Samia; Bahgat, Esam; Hifny, Mahmoud A.

doi:10.21608/svuijm.2024.295799.1889

Median Nerve to Musculocutaneous Nerve Transfer for Restoring Elbow Flexion in Obstetric Brachial Plexus palsy

Document Type : Original research articles

Authors

¹ Plastic Surgery Department, Faculty of Medicine , Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.

² Plastic Surgery Department, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt.

³ Plastic Surgery Department, Faculty of Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt

10.21608/svuijm.2024.295799.1889

Abstract

Background: Birth injuries to the brachial plexus are highly rare; however, they necessitate treatment and follow-up from infancy until skeletal maturity. Many complications may arise as a result of primary nerve surgery.
Objectives: To study the long-term complications of nerve repair procedures in patients with obstetric brachial plexus palsy.
Patients and methods: This was retrospective research that was performed on 8 cases having obstetric brachial plexus palsy and underwent nerve surgery procedure. The ages ranged from 3 to 20 months. The assessment of the surgical procedure outcomes involves post-operative evaluation of both short and long-term complication.
Results: Our study showed that the most frequent long-term complications were decreased innervation (25%), followed by decreased strength and stamina and balanced discoordination (12.50%) while there were no complications encountered in 50% of cases. The short-term complications included wound infection, seroma and hematoma.
Conclusion: The nerve surgery procedure is an efficient primary approach in the management of cases with brachial plexus injury. However, a long-term follow-up is usually associated with late squeal such as reduced innervation and decrease in the overall strength and stamina.

Keywords

Main Subjects