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Sonographic measurements of longitudinal median nerve sliding in patients following nerve repair
Author(s) -
Erel Ertan,
Dilley Andrew,
Turner Sarah,
Kumar Prem,
Bhatti Waqar A.,
Lees Vivien C.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
muscle and nerve
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 145
eISSN - 1097-4598
pISSN - 0148-639X
DOI - 10.1002/mus.21501
Subject(s) - medicine , median nerve , epineurial repair , nerve repair , forearm , nerve injury , surgery , ultrasound , anesthesia , anatomy , peripheral nerve , radiology
Abstract Nerve sliding may be restricted following nerve repair. This could result in increased tension across the repair site and lead to poor functional recovery of the nerve. Ultrasound was used to examine longitudinal median nerve sliding in 10 patients who had previously undergone nerve repair surgery following complete division of the median nerve. The median longitudinal movement in the forearm in response to metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint movements was 2.15 mm on the injured side, compared with 2.54 mm on the uninjured side, a difference that was significant. There was a significant reduction in nerve sliding following repair (median = 8%, range −8% to 54%; P = 0.02), which correlated with time from injury to surgery (rho = 0.87; P = 0.001). These results indicate that ultrasound can be used as an adjunct assessment tool to monitor both morphology and sliding of the nerve through the repair site. It may have future application in the investigation of patients with persisting functional impairment following primary nerve repair. Muscle Nerve, 2009