Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Hand Surgery (British and European Volume)
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by HOBBY, J.
Right arrow Articles by ESNOUF, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by HOBBY, J.
Right arrow Articles by ESNOUF, J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Articles

Restoration of Tetraplegic Hand Function by Use of the Neurocontrol Freehand System

J. HOBBY
P. N. TAYLOR
J. ESNOUF

From the Wessex Plastic Surgery Centre, The Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, and The Duke of Cornwall Spinal Injuries Centre, Salisbury District Hospital, Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK

Correspondence: Mr. John Hobby, The Wessex Plastic Surgery Unit, Salisbury District Hospital, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP2 8BJ, UK. E-mail: p.taylor{at}mpbe-sdh.demon.co.uk

Nine tetraplegic patients with C5 or C6 level spinal cord lesions had the Freehand System, an eight channel Functional Electrical Stimulation device, implanted to allow of hand opening and grasp. This paper describes the surgical implementation of the system and the challenges encountered. Seven of the subjects are currently daily users of the device. One subject is unable to use the system due to disruption of bowel function when the system is used. A second subject suffered a lesion of the posterior interosseous nerve, but this was not thought to be related to system use. Additionally, one subject exhibited symptoms of autonomic dysreflexia, which were alleviated by reduction of the strength of the stimulus. Despite such problems, the Freehand system can significantly improve the functional ability of C5 and C6 lesion tetraplegics.

Journal of Hand Surgery (British and European Volume), Vol. 26, No. 5, 459-464 (2001)
DOI: 10.1054/jhsb.2001.0587
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?