title: Neurological deficit after surgical enucleation of schwannomas of the upper limb.
abstract: We evaluated 56 patients for neurological deficit after enucleation of a histopathologically confirmed schwannoma of the upper limb. Immediately after the operation, 41 patients (73.2%) had developed a new neurological deficit: ten of these had a major deficit such as severe motor or sensory loss, or intolerable neuropathic pain. The mean tumour size had been significantly larger in patients with a major neurological deficit than in those with a minor or no deficit. After a mean 25.4 months (12 to 85), 39 patients (70%) had no residual neurological deficit, and the other 17 (30%) had only hypoaesthesia, paraesthesiae or mild motor weakness. This study suggests that a schwannoma in the upper limb can be removed with an acceptable risk of injury to the nerve, although a transient neurological deficit occurs regularly after the operation. Biopsy is not advised. Patients should be informed pre-operatively about the possibility of damage to the nerve: meticulous dissection is required to minimise this.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50 Irwon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, Korea. mjp3506@skku.edu
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: K N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009442:Neurilemmoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D010243:Paralysis / Q000209:etiology; D059348:Peripheral Nerve Injuries; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D034941:Upper Extremity / Q000294:innervation*; D055815:Young Adult