Transferring the radialis proper digital nerve of index finger and its dorsal branch to repair the thumb nerve evulsion / 中国基层医药

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the clinical curative effect of the surgical method of transferring the radialis proper digital nerve of damaged index finger and its dorsal branch to repair the thumb nerve evulsion.Methods 13 patients with thumb nerve evulsion were treated.There were 8 males and 5 females with an average age of 28 years (ranged 18-52 years old).The injuries were caused by machine twist (8 cases),gear(4 cases),electric saw (1 case).And thumb rotational avulsion amputation (10 cases),thumb incompleteness amputation(3 cases).The time from injury to admission was 1-3.5 h (mean 2.2 h).The average time from injury to admission was (1.1 ± 1.5) h.The amputate level of skin was at the juxtra-articular of metacarpophalangeal joint.The amputate level of bone was at the base of proximal phalanx (6 patients) and metacarpophalangeal joint (4 patients),interphalangeal joint(3 patients).Using transferring the radialis proper digital nerve of index finger without reimplantation and its dorsal branch to.repair the both side injuries of thumb nerve evulsion.According to routine method to repair digital bone,veins,arteries and tendons.Results All 13 chases were followed up for 6 months to 2 years and 7 months postoperatively,with an average of 22 months.The wounds and incisions at donor sites were healed by first intention.All 13 cases of thumb reimplantation were successful.Two-point discrimination of ulnaris finger pulp was 2 to 6mm,average 4.2mm,and the radialis was 5 to 9mm,average 7.8mm.Sensory function was rated as S4(the ulnaris in 12 cases and the radialis in 2 cases) and S3 + (the radialis in 11 cases and the ulnaris in 1 cases).Conclusion Transferring the radialis proper digital nerve of damaged index finger and its dorsal branch to the digital nerve on the neighboring thumb is a simple and effective method to restore sensory function of the pulp.