United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Does anyone know of any work being done to reattach nerves to the spinal cord? I am with Kaiser and they have a fabulous brachial plexus clinic... they thought they were going to be able to restore full use of my arm (not my hand, though) after a severe motorcycle accident in which all of the bp nerves were torn completely. After they saw the MRI, they realised my nerves had also been torn at the spine. They still plan to go forward and will do nerve and muscle grafts, then fuse my shoulder to my shoulder blade for limited function, movement and feeling... I'm starting to think that amputation may be the answer, though.

Sorry for the long post, I'm a little in need of answers and opinions on all of it.

Thanks!

There is a guy who went to the Mayo Clinic and he is having movement on his hand. His name is John. You can find info under Discovery Health Channel Documentary and contact them his parents write there.

Vanessa,

My son John is the one who had the surgery at Mayo - all five nerves avulsed & now he can bend his arm & grip his hand. However, all this was done via rerouting of other nerves (C7 from good side, phrenic, 4 intercostals) and transferring the gracilus muscle/tendon/nerve package from the leg to the arm.

There is a doctor in London who has been doing some work in reattaching avulsed nerves back into the spine, but my understanding is that this has to be done within hours of the injury for any hope of a decent recovery. Of course, that works against the MO (at least in the US) of waiting around 3 months to see if movement comes back on its own - before going under the knife.

Let us know if you learn anything...

Ellen

They have had some success recently in Stanmore Hospital in the U.K. with re-implanting avulsed nerves back into the spinal cord, but many things contribute to this success. As far as I understand it, the timeliness of surgery is the most important factor; surgery to re-implant nerves will only be attempted if this is possible within hours of the injury.

Liz