Repair of ruptured spinal nerve roots in a brachial plexus lesion

A 22-year-old woman sustained a brachial plexus injury with supraganglionic rupture of the C-8 and T-1 nerve roots as a result of a traffic accident. She was operated on approximately 1 week following the accident. After a hemilaminectomy, the intradural defects in the ruptured roots were bridged with sural nerve grafts. Within 3 years she recovered function in all muscles supplied from the lower roots in the plexus except for the intrinsic hand muscles, but she had a persisting, complete sensory loss in the ulnar nerve distribution. The possibility for functional gain after repair of spinal root lesions in brachial plexus patients is discussed.