THE RESULTS OF USING APART OF ULNAR NERVE FOR RESTORATION OF ELBOW FLEXION IN PATIENTS WITH UPPER BRACHIAL PLEXUS INJURY

In upper brachial plexus (c5-c6 or c5-c6-c7 roots) injuries, restoration of elbow flexion isthe first aim. several methods have been used to achieve this goal. among these procedures, oberlin'smethod (transfer of part of ulnar nerve to the nerve to biceps muscle) is the newest one. from april2002 to march 2003 we used this method in 9 cases, 8 males and i female, of upper brachial plexusinjury with impaired active elbow flexion and intact ulnar nerve. patients' age ranged from 9 to 53years. in 6 acute cases only oberlin's method was used and in 3 old cases this technique was combinedwith gracilis free muscle transfer. the minimum follow up period was 6 months. six cases gainedeffective elbow flexion and 3 cases showed fair or poor results. no permanent impairment of ulnarnerve function was observed. we found oberlin's method to be a safe, simple and effective way toachieve elbow flexion in patients with upper brachial plexus injury.