Archives of Plastic Surgery

Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons (대한성형외과학회)
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Application of Supercharge End-to-Side (SETS) Obturator to Femoral Nerve Transfer in Electrical Injury-Induced Neuropathy to Improve Knee Extension

  • Katie Pei-Hsuan Wu (Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Chang Gung Medical University, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Linkou) ;
  • Li-Ching Lin (Division of Reconstructive Microsurgery, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Chang Gung Medical University, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital) ;
  • Johnny Chuieng-Yi Lu (Division of Reconstructive Microsurgery, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Chang Gung Medical University, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital)
  • Received : 2021.12.08
  • Accepted : 2022.02.17
  • Published : 2022.11.15
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Abstract

Femoral nerve injuries are devastating injuries that lead to paralysis of the quadriceps muscles, weakening knee extension to prohibit ambulation. We report a devastating case of electrical injury-induced femoral neuropathy, where no apparent site of nerve disruption can be identified, thus inhibiting the traditional choices of nerve reconstruction such as nerve repair, grafting, or transfer. Concomitant spinal cord injury resulted in spastic myopathy of the antagonist muscles that further restricted knee extension. Our strategy was to perform (1) supercharge end-to-side technique (SETS) to augment the function of target muscles and (2) fractional tendon lengthening to release the spastic muscles. Dramatic postoperative improvement in passive and active range of motion highlights the effectiveness of this strategy to manage partial femoral nerve injuries.

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References

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