United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Well, I am scheduled for my 2nd tendon transfer in less than 2 weeks. The doctor kind of threw a curve at me this week though. I thought he was taking a tendon from my arm and moving it to my hand, but he is taking a tendon from my leg. Anyone had this done? I am just wondering what to expect. The doc says I am going to be very happy with the results, it might triple my strength in this hand (which by the way would still only be 1/2 strtength of my other hand). But hey, I would be very grateful for anything.

Kathy

Hi Kathy,
I was due to have a tendon removed from the leg in my transfer surgery,but he decided he didnt need to.This is quite common to do and apparently you dont need the tendon im sure the improvements will be great!!!

karl

Kathy......wish you the best in your next surgery!! I've a question.........why a tendon from the leg? And what muscle will they attach it to in the arm? Am honestly curios. It seems to be a pretty smart move. I assume they will attach the lower part of the donor tendon to one not working, and the upper part to a strong muscle in the upper forearm, or even to one above the elbow?? Well.....as you can see, I've never heard of this proceedure, and am making a lot of assumptions, but it seems that this type of transfer could potentially give movement along with quite a bit of strength. Very interesting !

Good luck Kathy.....let us know how it goes.

George

Good luck with it. I didn't know they did this sort of thing with tendons, I thought only with nerves. Out of interest who is doing these procedures? Are u in the uk?

All the best, Athos

Theres no real rocket science im afraid with this one,
The tendon used from the leg is "spare" and is only used to reach a muscle whos tendon isnt long enough,ie is grafted between a given muscle/tendon,do ya get my drift?

karl

Good luck kathy........ is this to make your wrist wok? Paul

work missed the r thats rrrrrrrrrrrrrr paul

karlos it sounds as if u've done a few of these procedures...

Thank you for all the well wishes. You are right Karlos, not rocket science, but they are operating on me, and the doctor thinks it is a very big surgery and very rare. You are right again when you say they take a working tendon and tie it into one that is too short.

For those of you who asked, the surgery should allow me to straighten my fingers and possibly spread them apart. My ulnar nerve(which was severely stretched decided to not come back). I have lost all the muscles in my hand. I can bend my wrist (although weak). I live in Tennesse in the US.

I'll keep you posted on how things go.

Kathy

There is a fair amount of information about tendon and muscle transfers at this site; http://www.medmedia.com/05/5056.htm
...it's all a bit technical and the info is really for medical students (I guess..) but useful in describing the circumstances required for these types of surgery to be effective. Hope this helps a bit. It's a pretty good site all round for info on bpi's, nerve/muscle functions etc., but not very easy to navigate! Be prepared for a long stay! :0)