Postoperative precautions for the sound side of the neck 7 displacement

  Root avulsion injury of the whole brachial plexus is a very serious peripheral nerve injury, which is a disaster for patients and their families. Currently, the conventional treatment at Huashan Hospital is multi-group nerve transposition repair, i.e., paramedian nerve repair of the suprascapular nerve; repair of the musculocutaneous and median nerves by the healthy cervical seven nerve roots; and repair of the radial nerve by the intercostal nerve. Today, we will focus on the considerations for patients after the robust cervical seventh transposition.  The Jianlian cervical seventh transposition is a procedure invented by academician Gu Yudong in 1986, which has won several awards from the National Invention Award and the National Science and Technology Progress Award. It is also an internationally recognized repair option for repairing total brachial plexus injuries, and has achieved good results. It is also one of our routine procedures at Huashan Hospital. However, each patient is an individual and has different reactions to this procedure. The correct understanding of postoperative reactions and precautions has a significant role in functional recovery.  Immobilization of the head and the affected limb is a very important post-operative treatment, usually for four to six weeks after cervical VII repair on the healthy side. Most patients will experience numbness and discomfort in the thumb, index finger and middle finger of the healthy hand within three weeks after surgery, and a small number of patients will experience a loss of muscle strength, usually in the form of reduced elbow extension. Patients do not need to be nervous and anxious about these conditions, which are normal postoperative reactions and will return to normal over time, although the recovery of finger sensation will be slower and patients do not need to worry about it. Some patients with a healthy side of the neck displaced from the anterior vertebral pathway will also experience numbness of the fingers when coughing and swallowing, which is also a normal postoperative reaction and should not be a cause for concern.  Generally in the postoperative month to start exercise activities, the main action is to internalize the healthy limb, while thinking about the affected limb flexion elbow action, this must need to use the intention to exercise, 1500 times a day in three times to complete. This is good for nerve regeneration and functional recovery. This exercise can be continued until the surgery again, and generally after three months, a three-stage surgery can be done to transpose the bridged ulnar nerve and medial forearm cutaneous nerve again to repair the myocutaneous nerve and median nerve. The same formal exercise and rehabilitation will be performed after four weeks. The training action is the same as the previous one, which is to strengthen the inward movement of the healthy limb while thinking about the flexion of the elbow and wrist and fingers of the affected limb, so that the recovery of function (flexion of the elbow and wrist and fingers) will occur after about one year of persistent exercise.  Since most of the healthy side of the neck seven surgery is completed in two times, coupled with the long distance of nerve regeneration, it takes a longer time to recover the function, I personally think that patients must have patience, followed by the persistence of exercise, and finally the confidence to believe in recovery. An optimistic attitude and active exercise play an important role in functional recovery. We sincerely hope that patients can recover their injured limbs and return to work and improve their quality of life through our joint efforts.