Nerve Recovery on Volar Forearm Lacerations from Single Major Nerve Injury vs. Double Major Nerve Injury
Gilberto Agustin Gonzalez Trevizo, MD
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, TX
Introduction/Purpose: To evaluate clinical differences between Nerve Recovery on Volar Forearm Lacerations from single major Nerve Injury vs. double major Nerve Injury
Hypothesis: Is Nerve Recovery on Volar Forearm Lacerations from single major Nerve Injury faster than when double major Nerve Injury is present
Inclusion criteria: All patients treated at TTUHSC/UMC from 01/01/2015 to 12/31/2016 who sustained complex Volar forearm lacerations, more often known as “Spaghetti Wrist”, including structures like Tendons, Arteries and single major nerve vs double major nerve repair (ulnar or median nerve involvement vs. ulnar and median nerve involvement)
Exclusion criteria: Patients that when nerve repair was performed it required more than a tension free cooptation like a cable graft.
Methods: A retrospective chart review of prospectively collected data of 20 patients in each group will be conducted, total 40 patients included. Variables to be studied include: demographics and standard surgical variables. Primary outcomes will be hand strength and function, number of patients to have recovery as well as time to recovery, and a functional outcome score. If data is unavailable through chart review patients will be contacted via telephone or a request for an office visit will be made.
Results: We expect that patients with one major nerve injury recover faster than when there are two major nerves injured
Discussion/Conclusion: The rate of recovery after nerve injury is 1mm per day. In proximal lesions recovery time may be prolonged. During this prolonged recovery time the muscles innervated by the damaged nerve are not receiving a stimulus to continue working and thus may atrophy or may permanently lose function. Brain plasticity plays an important role when recovering from a nerve transection that requires surgical repair, also the antagonism on the different rehab protocols influences on the patient final outcome.
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