title: Common peroneal nerve injuries in knee dislocations: results with one-stage nerve repair and tibialis posterior tendon transfer.
abstract: We report our experience in the treatment of common peroneal nerve (CPN) palsy following knee dislocations: a twelve-year surgical series of 26 patients presenting with a traumatic injury of the lateral sciatic nerve and no spontaneous recovery is reviewed. From 1988 to 1991, we performed nerve surgery alone on 3 patients. Their results were highly disappointing and in none did we observe muscle recovery. Since 1991 nerve surgery was associated with a palliative procedure for 23 patients. Although at surgical exploration, severe nerve damage was found in 87% of these patients (thereby indicating the need for graft repair), the overall outcome was good, with a score of M3 on the BMRC scale in about 75% of the cases. These results suggest that the one-stage association of microsurgical nerve repair and tibialis posterior tendon transfer changed the destiny of these injuries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, S. Maria della Misericordia Hospital, Via Tre Martiri, I-45100 Rovigo, Italy Tel.: +39-0425-394145 Fax: +39-0425-394209 E-mail: debgar66@interfree.it, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Garozzo
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ferraresi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Buffatti