Good results can be expected from a repair of the spinal accessory nerve if it is performed within twenty months after the injury, as the nerve is basically a purely motor nerve and the distance from the injury to the motor end plates is short. Muscle transfer should be performed in patients with spontaneous trapezius palsy, when previous nerve surgery has failed, or when the time from the injury to treatment is over twenty months. Treatment is less likely to succeed when the patient is older than fifty years of age or the palsy was due to a radical neck dissection, penetrating injury, or spontaneous palsy.
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