Hello everyone
My reconstructive surgeon at Hershey Medical Center here in PA. has not done any muscle tranfers to the shoulder area before, so he has referred me to DR.Mackinnon ST. Louis MO. so i faxed out all my medical records and am awaiting to here my appt. date. question i have to those that been out to see DR. Mackinnon where is a nice place to stay close to the DR.'s office and or the hospital, and what can i expect. Has anyone had surgery by DR. Mackinnon for to gain more shoulder. my injury is to C5, C6,C7.I have no deltoids or rotator cuff. I just want to be fuctional in life thats all. Can anyone help me here, i know that everyone's injury is different even though we may have the same damaged nerves and everyone heals differently but has anyone been seen by DR. Mackinnon and operated on for similar injury and what kind of gains did you get back. PLEASE HELP ME!!!
THANK YOU ALL!!!
Wes
NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!
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Christopher
- Posts: 845
- Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2003 10:09 pm
- Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Date of Injury: 12/15/02
Level of Injury:
-dominant side C5, C6, & C7 avulsed. C8 & T1 stretched & crushed
BPI Related Surgeries:
-2 Intercostal nerves grafted to Biceps muscle,
-Free-Gracilis muscle transfer to Biceps Region innervated with 2 Intercostal nerves grafts.
-2 Sural nerves harvested from both Calves for nerve grafting.
-Partial Ulnar nerve grafted to Long Triceps.
-Uninjured C7 Hemi-Contralateral cross-over to Deltoid muscle.
-Wrist flexor tendon transfer to middle, ring, & pinky finger extensors.
Surgical medical facility:
Brachial Plexus Clinic at The Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN
(all surgeries successful)
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
~Theodore Roosevelt - Location: Los Angeles, California USA
Re: NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!
Hey Wes,
I've had a muscle transfer done at the Mayo Clinic back in 3/15/03. I'll tell you what I know...
I've got C5, C6, & C7 avulsed as well (I'm assuming yours are avulsed). Had a Gracilus muscle (smallest of 7 muscles in thigh) transfer to my biceps region. It was tied into my wrist extensors as well because my wrist was flail before surgery (part of the reason I chose the muscle transfer) and it is still tied in at the end of my collar bone for extra shoulder stabilization. I've since had it released from my wrist and tied into were the biceps meets the forearm bone (radius) because a year after surgery my wrist extensor came back somewhat.
I know that the doctors at the Mayo were one of the, if not the, pioneering muscle transfer teams for BPI here in the states. It had been going on for a while over seas in asia, but not here in the U.S. It's an extreme procedure that I've healed just fine from, but wouldn't feel comfortable having it done unless the surgeons knew their stuff. I'm not familiar with Dr. Mackinnon, but that doesn't mean he/she isn't a great surgeon. I'm also not aware of a transfer that can be done for the deltoid, but would be very curious if it could be done.
I had half of my good side's C7 nerve transferred over to my injured sides deltoid, which took about 15 months to regenerate to reach that far. My deltoid works, but only for limited stability purposes. To flex it, I have to contract my good side's triceps, so it's a little odd to say the least and only goes out from my ribs about 25 degrees. No rotator cuff either. I have contemplated get my shoulder fused to give me more stability and allow me to move the rest of my body with more spontaneity and freedom, but there is no going back on that one, so I'll waite it out. Hope this helps. Best of luck.
Chris
I've had a muscle transfer done at the Mayo Clinic back in 3/15/03. I'll tell you what I know...
I've got C5, C6, & C7 avulsed as well (I'm assuming yours are avulsed). Had a Gracilus muscle (smallest of 7 muscles in thigh) transfer to my biceps region. It was tied into my wrist extensors as well because my wrist was flail before surgery (part of the reason I chose the muscle transfer) and it is still tied in at the end of my collar bone for extra shoulder stabilization. I've since had it released from my wrist and tied into were the biceps meets the forearm bone (radius) because a year after surgery my wrist extensor came back somewhat.
I know that the doctors at the Mayo were one of the, if not the, pioneering muscle transfer teams for BPI here in the states. It had been going on for a while over seas in asia, but not here in the U.S. It's an extreme procedure that I've healed just fine from, but wouldn't feel comfortable having it done unless the surgeons knew their stuff. I'm not familiar with Dr. Mackinnon, but that doesn't mean he/she isn't a great surgeon. I'm also not aware of a transfer that can be done for the deltoid, but would be very curious if it could be done.
I had half of my good side's C7 nerve transferred over to my injured sides deltoid, which took about 15 months to regenerate to reach that far. My deltoid works, but only for limited stability purposes. To flex it, I have to contract my good side's triceps, so it's a little odd to say the least and only goes out from my ribs about 25 degrees. No rotator cuff either. I have contemplated get my shoulder fused to give me more stability and allow me to move the rest of my body with more spontaneity and freedom, but there is no going back on that one, so I'll waite it out. Hope this helps. Best of luck.
Chris
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admin
- Site Admin
- Posts: 19873
- Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2009 9:59 pm
Re: NEED YOUR HELP!!!!!
Hi Wes, My daughter Melanie received a severe brachial plexus injury in Nov. 2005 due to a motorcycle accident in which she was the passenger. The driver was killed so we are very fortunate that she is alive with us today. Like you, she was at Hershey Med and had several surgeries there related to her injuries. After she was released we looked into surgery for her brachial plexus injury. Our Hershey neurosugeon wasn't sure if all 5 nerves were avulsed or not. We had mentioned going to Dr. Mackinnon because we saw her on the internet but the neurosurgeon said that the Mayo Clinic in MN was the place to go. She told us if her daughter had this injury she would go there. She knows the brachial plexus team there and highly recommended them. Mel had surgery at Mayo last May. The place and the doctors there are amazing. She had all 5 nerves avulsed so they did a muscle transfer and many nerve transfers from her chest and legs. They weren't able to do the contralateral transfer from her C7 because of an anomaly, but they tell me she can have a ligament transferred up into her shoulder from her trapezius muscle to stabilize it at a later date. The fact that our neurosurgeon told us that Mayo was where she would send her own daughter convinced us to go there. I'm very glad we did. The brachial plexus team works with these injuries everyday and extremely knowlegable yet compassionate. Of course Mel doesn't have any movement yet because it's too soon after surgery and nerves take a long time to grow but we are anxiosly awaiting the day. She's going back to Mayo in Sept. for a check up.