title: Follow-up evaluation with ultrasonography of peripheral nerve injuries after an earthquake.
abstract: Published data on earthquake-associated peripheral nerve injury is very limited. Ultrasonography has been proven to be efficient in the clinic to diagnose peripheral nerve injury. The aim of this study was to assess the role of ultrasound in the evaluation of persistent peripheral nerve injuries 1 year after the Wenchuan earthquake. Thirty-four patients with persistent clinical symptoms and neurologic signs of impaired nerve function were evaluated with sonography prior to surgical repair. Among 34 patients, ultrasonography showed that 48 peripheral nerves were entrapped, and 11 peripheral nerves were disrupted. There was one case of misdiagnosis on ultrasonography. The concordance rate of ultrasonographic findings with those of surgical findings was 98%. A total of 48 involved nerves underwent neurolysis and the symptoms resolved. Only five nerves had scar tissue entrapment. Preoperative and postoperative clinical and ultrasonographic results were concordant, which verified that ultrasonography is useful for preoperative diagnosis and postoperative evaluation of injured peripheral nerves.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Man
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Linxian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University Hospital, University of Western Ontario, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Fanding
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiaojing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zang
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoke
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Chengdu Jiaxiang Foreign Languages School, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Zirui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jiang
keywords: 863 Program; Wenchuan; earthquake; follow-up; nerve injury; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; peripheral nerve; repair; ultrasound