Modified Procedure Of Ipsilateral Ulnar Nerve Graft For Bridging The Contralateral C7 In Treatment Of Brachial Plexus Root Avulsion Injury

Objective: To observe the feasibility of modified procedure of ipsilateral ulnar nerve graft for bridging the contralateral C7 in treatment of brachial plexus root avulsion injury.Methods: 48 Sprague Dawley rats which were given right brachial plexus root avulsion injury were randomly divided into 2 groups with 24 each. In the control group(A), liberate the whole ulnar nerve which was used to bridge the posterior divisions of contralateral C7 through the subcutaneously tunnel three weeks later. In the experimental group(B), the ulnar nerve of forearms were liberated and sutured to the musculocutaneous nerve through the subcutaneously tunnel. Three weeks later, liberate and suture the ulnar nerve to the posterior divisions of contralateral C7 through the subcutaneously tunnel too. The function of biceps brachii, weight and morphologic of biceps brachii, the axon of right musculocutaneous nerve were detected in first second and thrid month separately.Results : The rate of recovery on the result of the max of tetanus tension in the group B was better than the that in the group A (p<0.05), while there was no significant difference on the duration between the two groups (p>0.05) in the third month.The result of recovery rate on weight and section area of muscle in group B was better than the group A in the first month (p<0.05). The count of axon increased gradually and the result of count of axon in group B was better than the group A in the first and third month( p<0.05). The form of nerve in group A was better than that in group B under the electron microscope.Conclusions : The new method which was profitable to the regeneration of nerve and functional recovery by giving more blood supply to the neural anastomosis was better than the traditional method.