Tendon Transfers to Restore Function of Hands in Tetraplegia, Especially after Fracture-Dislocation of the Sixth Cervical Vertebra on the Seventh

Upper extremity reconstruction in the tetraplegic population, a national epidemiologic study

“…Since the early days of spinal cord medicine, hand surgeons have tried to improve upper-limb function for patients with tetraplegia. 4 Today surgeons can choose from a number of procedures to reconstruct the arms of people with tetraplegia. These procedures attempt to restore elbow extension, wrist extension, and grasp.…”

The scope of upper limb surgery for tetraplegics: Role of tendon transfers and Universal Cuff

“…and House and Shannon, described a two-stage procedure; the extensor phase is performed first, followed two to six months later by the flexor phase. 16 , 17 However, Lamb and Chan believed that restoration of both active flexion and active extension of the fingers is too ambitious. Their recommendation was to provide grasp by active finger flexion and to allow release to be accomplished by wrist flexion with the natural tenodesis-like effect of the extensors.…”

“… 2 Since most of the centers in developing nations lack adequate in patient facilities and these patients may need long periods of post-operative care and follow up, we also recommend single staged bilateral procedures to maximize rehabilitation. 1 , 4 , 16 …”

Restoration of Finger Flexion by Pronator Teres Muscle Transfer after Brachial Plexus Injury: A Case Report

“…The first attempts at producing some gripping function of the hand took place in Europe [16] with the construction of flexor hinge splints and continuing interest in the use of hand splints in the years that followed resulted in the Rancho Splint developed by Nickel et al [22] In the 1950s, the development of surgical techniques such as static flexor tenodesis provided the basic functions of grasp and pinch for patients who lacked sufficient muscle motors for conventional transfers but in whom active wrist dorsiflexion was present [12,23,26,29].…”