Flexorplasty of Elbow in Brachial Plexus Injuries

Chun, Chul Hong; Kim, Sang Soo; Kim, Dong Churl; Wie, Jin Sang

Abstract

One of the most basic function in brachial plexus injury is the recovery of elbow flexion. So the important purpose in nerve surgery of brachial plexus injury is the recovery of the function of the musculocutaneous nerve. However, failure of the recovery of function of the biceps through surgery or in cases of neglected nerve surgery of more than 1 year needs the consideration of tendon transfer or free vascularized muscle graft. In these failed or neglected brachial plexus injury, flexorplasty is more often indicated because of associated surrounding muscle weakness or paralysis. We analyzed the functional results in brachial plexus injured 12 patients who underwent elbow flexorplasty between June, 1987 and Aug. 1994. In 2 patients, the elbow flexorplasty was augmented by a glenohumeral arthrodesis. The mean length of the follow-up was 52 months. The mean are of active flexion following flexorplasty was 81 degrees. The postoperative active Supination and loss of elbow extension was 40 and 28 degree respectively. At final objective evaluation, 6 patients were judged to have excellent; 2 good; 1 poor; 3 failure. At final subjective evaluation, 3 patients were judged to have excellent; 3 good; 3 failure.