[Surgical approaches in excision of tumors of peripheral nerves].

The authors made an analysis of advantages and disadvantages of different approaches for excision of tumors of peripheral nerves on the basis of their experience with treatment of 216 patients.

[Decrease and asymmetry in taste perception in patients with nerve trunk damage]. / Snizhenie i asimmetriia vkusnogo vospriiatiia u bol'nykh s povrezhdeniem nervnykh stvolov.

The purpose of this article was the gustatory perception state study (NaCl solution perception) in patients with one-sided damages of branchial plexus as well as of radial, facial and ulnar nervous trunks. The decrease of gustatory perception was observed in 78 (70.3%) cases, while the lack of such alterations in 33 (29.7%) patients. The gustatory perception disturbances (increase of the absolute threshold on the ipsilateral tongue's half) took place in 82.2% and 69.6% at right and left limbs damages respectively. The results presented testified the strengthening of normally existing asymmetry in gustatory perception especially in patients with left-sided denervation. The degree of gustatory perception restoration may serve as a prognostic test at surgery of such patients.

[Comparative results in gunshot and non-gunshot nerve injuries]. / Sravnitel'nye rezul'taty ognestrel'nykh i neognestrel'nykh povrezhdenii nervov.

An analysis of clinico-neurological and electrophysiological examinations of 88 patients before and during the operation enabled the authors to establish substantial pathomorphological and functional distinctions of gunshot and not gunshot injuries of the nerves, difference in results of various operative procedures.

[The treatment of the pain syndrome in spinal osteochondrosis]. / Lechenie bolevogo sindroma pri osteokhondroze pozvonochnika.

A method of the treatment of the painful syndrome in spinal osteochondrosis is suggested. It lies in the action on functionally significant points specific for each level of injury. To establish blockades, use is made of the preparations on the basis of snake venom, administered intracutaneously or of nitrous oxide injected subcutaneously. Blockades are made once every 4 days. In the majority of cases, the beneficial effect was attained after 1 to 3 sessions. The maximum number of blockades was 6-7 in patients with a severe pattern of the painful syndrome. Out of 240 patients with spinal osteochondrosis, good clinical effect was achieved in 237 patients. The time of the patients' stay at the hospital reduced from 31.5 to 12-18 bed days. The high efficacy of the method suggested, simplicity of performance and minimal expenditures permit recommending it as one of the methods for the treatment of the painful syndrome associated with spinal osteochondrosis.

[Regeneration of the rabbit sciatic nerve after its dissection and the use of various surgical methods]. / Regeneratsiia sedalishchnogo nerva krolika posle pererezki i primeneniia razlichnykh khirurgicheskikh metodov.

The method of stimulation electromyography and histological methods were used to study regeneration of the sciatic nerve of a rabbit after its division and joining with epineural and perineural sutures as well as by means of a vascular allograft. Successful regeneration of the nerve occurred in both types of sutures. Implantation of a vessel induced a marked inflammatory reaction in the rabbit, which aggravated the conditions for regeneration.

[Benign tumors of the peripheral nerve trunks]. / Dobrokachestvennye opukholi perifericheskikh nervnykh stvolov.

Seventy-nine cases of benign neurinoma and neurofibroma of the nerve trunk in the extremities were studied. Tumors were radically removed in all cases. Due to application of microsurgical procedure, tumor can be reliably exposed and radically removed, leaving the intact segment of the nerve tissue. In most such cases, prognosis is favorable.

[Complex treatment and follow-up of the dynamics of the recovery process in injuries of the nerve trunks of the extremities at polyclinics]. / Kompleksnoe lechenie i kontrol' v usloviiakh polikliniki za dinamikoi vosstanovitel'nogo protsessa pri povrezhdenii nervnykh stvolov konechnostei.

On the basis of the experience with the treatment and monitoring of the time-course of the restorative process in 578 patients with damaged nervous stems of the extremities treated at the rehabilitative department of polyclinic No. 51 in Leningrad, the authors propose a therapeutic and diagnostic complex adapted to both different stages of the recovery period of the neuromuscular apparatus and conditions of the rehabilitative department of the polyclinic, which has been in use since 1979.

[Hyperbaric oxygenation in neurotraumatology]. / Giperbaricheskaia oksigenatsiia v neirotravmatologii.

The use of hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO) as a therapeutic measure has a favorable effect, in the postoperative period also, on traumatic affections of different levels of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerve trunks and plexuses. It allows the severity of the neurologic deficit and the degree of the patient's disability to be reduced and in some cases it prevents the growth of vital disorders. At the same time, the effect may exert a certain load on the adaptation mechanisms which are very limited in many neurosurgical patients. In view of this, the tolerance of the patient's organism to this load must be taken into account in choosing the HBO schedules. The tolerance is decisively determined by the intactness of the integral function of the central nervous system and diminishes markedly as the impairment of the consciousness of patients with primary affection of the brain gradually becomes deeper and longer in duration.

[Predicting the outcome of nerve suture]. / Prognozirovanie iskhoda shva nervov.

The late results of nerve suture were studied in 398 patients with injury of one or more nerves and coding cards containing formalized data of the primary examination of the patients and the operative data were filled in. After mathematical processing of these data on an electronic computer (CBM-6000) using the linear regression method, 4 formulas were obtained from which a physician practicing in any field of medicine can prognosticate in 5-7 min the degree of restoration of the limb function and the working rehabilitation of individuals who had suffered injury of the nerves.

[Late surgery on injured nerves of the extremities]. / Pozdnie operatsii na povrezhdennykh nervakh konechnostei.

The work characterizes 424 patients with injuries to the nerves of the upper and lower extremities who were operated on one year after the trauma and later. It was established that such factors as the type of injury, the length of the defect in the nerve, and the degree of "refreshment" of the nerve segments may be important in predicting the outcome of the late suture applied to the nerves of the extremities. The severity of the injury and faults in the diagnosis and treatment are the main causes of the prolonged delay in nerve repair. Some peculiarities of a late suture applied to the nerves of the extremities are pointed out.

[Features of the diagnosis and treatment of Barré-Masson tumors]. / Osobennosti diagnostiki i lecheniia opukholei Barre-Massona.

Clinical analysis of 72 cases with Barré-Masson tumors was conducted. All patients underwent operation and the removed tumors were examined histologically. The tumor is characterized by a protracted course, small size, and a marked pain syndrome. The disease follows a benign course as a rule. A malignant course is rare (one case from the authors' practice is described). Operation is the only means of treatment. After thorough removal of the new growth (preferably with the use of a microscope) the pain syndrome is completely relieved as a rule.

[Surgical indications and surgical methods in post-traumatic management of the main arteries and nerves of upper extremities in late postraumatic period]. / Pokazaniia k operatsii i vybor metoda vmeshatel'stva pri sochetanykh povrezhdeniiakh magistral'nykh arterii i nervov verkhnei konechnosti v pozdnie sroki.

Reconstructive operations for nervous and vascular lesions of the upper extremities were carried out upon 37 cases within 2 to 46 months after trauma. The technic of operations and the results of the treatment are described.