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Tubular Repair of the Median or Ulnar Nerve in the Human Forearm: A 5-Year Follow-Up

From the Department of Hand Surgery, University Hospital MAS, Malmö, Sweden, and the Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Lund University, Sweden

Correspondence: Göran Lundborg, Department of Hand Surgery, University Hospital MAS, SE-205 02 Malmö, Sweden. Tel.: +46-40-331721; fax: +46-40-928855; E-mail: goran.lundborg{at}hand.mas.lu.se

The long-term outcome from silicone tube nerve repair was compared with the outcome from routine microsurgical repair in a clinical randomized prospective study, comprising 30 patients with median or ulnar nerve injuries in the distal forearm. Postoperatively, the patients underwent neurophysiological and clinical assessments of sensory and motor function regularly over a 5-year period. After 5 years there was no significant difference in outcome between the two techniques except that cold intolerance was significantly less severe with the tubular technique. In the total group there was ongoing improvement of functional sensibility throughout the 5 years after repair. It is concluded that tubular repair of the median and ulnar nerves is at least as good as routine microsurgical repair, and results in less cold intolerance.

Key Words: nerve repair • outcome • tubes • silicone

Journal of Hand Surgery (British and European Volume), Vol. 29, No. 2, 100-107 (2004)
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhsb.2003.09.018


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