[Functional surgery of upper limb in tetraplegics since 50 years].
OBJECTIVE
Development of upper limb functional surgery in tetraplegics in the last 50 years.


METHODS
The literature review relating to the years 1950-2002 was carried out with 3 data bases: Medline, Pascal, Embase. This review also involved a thorough study of non-indexed references.


RESULTS
A large number of surgical procedures are described. Two priorities are stressed by the authors: safety of these procedures and duration of postoperative immobilization.


CONCLUSIONS
This review of literature shows that the prospects for restoring upper limb function in tetraplegics are greater than ever, offering a larger number of patients the possibility to increase their independence in daily life. Functional surgery remains, nevertheless, demanding in terms of length of immobilization and presupposes requiring a multidisciplinary approach requiring rehabilitation teams to be up to date with surgical procedures.
Fattal
C
C
Centre Dr Bouffard-Vercelli, Cap Peyrefite, 66290, Cerbère, France. chfattal@yahoo.fr <chfattal@yahoo.fr>
Teissier
J
J
Leclercq
C
C
Revol
M
M
Enjalbert
M
M
D001132:Arm / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000502:physiology*