A novel extradural nerve transfer technique by coaptation of C4 to C5 and C7 to C6 for treating isolated upper trunk avulsion of the brachial plexus

Kaixiang Yang, Shaohua Zhang, Dawei Ge, Tao Sui, Hongtao Chen, Xiaojian Cao

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Journal of Biomedical Research ›› 2018, Vol. 32 ›› Issue (4) : 298-304. DOI: 10.7555/JBR.32.20180012
Original Article

A novel extradural nerve transfer technique by coaptation of C4 to C5 and C7 to C6 for treating isolated upper trunk avulsion of the brachial plexus

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Abstract

The study aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of an extradural nerve anastomosis technique for the restoration of a C5 and C6 avulsion of the brachial plexus. Nine fresh frozen human cadavers were used. The diameters, sizes, and locations of the extradural spinal nerve roots were observed. The lengths of the extradural spinal nerve roots and the distance between the neighboring nerve root outlets were measured and compared in the cervical segments. In the spinal canal, the ventral and dorsal roots were separated by the dura and arachnoid. The ventral and dorsal roots of C7 had sufficient lengths to anastomose those of C6. The ventral and dorsal of C4 had enough length to be transferred to those of C5, respectively. The feasibility of this extradural nerve anastomosis technique for restoring C5 and C6 avulsion of the brachial plexus in human cadavers was demonstrated in our anatomical study.

Keywords

brachial plexus, nerve transfer, spinal nerve roots, extradural anastomosis / surgical, feasibility study

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Kaixiang Yang, Shaohua Zhang, Dawei Ge, Tao Sui, Hongtao Chen, Xiaojian Cao. A novel extradural nerve transfer technique by coaptation of C4 to C5 and C7 to C6 for treating isolated upper trunk avulsion of the brachial plexus. Journal of Biomedical Research, 2018, 32(4): 298‒304 https://doi.org/10.7555/JBR.32.20180012

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant #81401791, #81371968, #81672152), A Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.

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2018 2018 by the Journal of Biomedical Research.
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