title: Electrophysiological changes after severance of the C7 nerve root.
abstract: Since 1986, contralateral C7 root transfer has been used to treat brachial plexus root avulsions in our hospital. We performed post-operative electrophysiological examinations of the healthy-side limb in the first 27 patients. Electromyography and nerve conduction studies on the healthy side demonstrated mild abnormalities only of individual limb muscles in a few cases. These changes mostly recovered during the follow-up period. In the measurement of radial nerve motor conduction, median nerve sensory conduction and somato-sensory evoked potentials, we found that the amplitude of the median nerve sensory conduction alone was slightly lower than that of the control group (p < 0.05). The results showed that severance of C7 caused no permanent functional damage to the upper limb.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hand Surgery, Hua Shan Hospital, Shanghai Medical University, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Y D
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: L Y
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Shen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001132:Arm / Q000294:innervation*; D001917:Brachial Plexus / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery; D004576:Electromyography; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008475:Median Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology; D016067:Nerve Transfer; D009431:Neural Conduction; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011826:Radial Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology; D013126:Spinal Nerve Roots / Q000601:surgery*; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000601:surgery