title: Factors predicting sensory and motor recovery after the repair of upper limb peripheral nerve injuries.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the factors associated with sensory and motor recovery after the repair of upper limb peripheral nerve injuries.
  
  
  METHODS
  The online PubMed database was searched for English articles describing outcomes after the repair of median, ulnar, radial, and digital nerve injuries in humans with a publication date between 1 January 1990 and 16 February 2011.
  
  
  METHODS
  THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF ARTICLE WERE SELECTED: (1) clinical trials describing the repair of median, ulnar, radial, and digital nerve injuries published in English; and (2) studies that reported sufficient patient information, including age, mechanism of injury, nerve injured, injury location, defect length, repair time, repair method, and repair materials. SPSS 13.0 software was used to perform univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses and to investigate the patient and intervention factors associated with outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sensory function was assessed using the Mackinnon-Dellon scale and motor function was assessed using the manual muscle test. Satisfactory motor recovery was defined as grade M4 or M5, and satisfactory sensory recovery was defined as grade S3(+) or S4.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-one articles were included in this study. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that repair time, repair materials, and nerve injured were independent predictors of outcome after the repair of nerve injuries (P < 0.05), and that the nerve injured was the main factor affecting the rate of good to excellent recovery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Predictors of outcome after the repair of peripheral nerve injuries include age, gender, repair time, repair materials, nerve injured, defect length, and duration of follow-up.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microsurgery and Orthopedic Trauma, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Microsurgery and Orthopedic Trauma, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Zhaowei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Microsurgery and Orthopedic Trauma, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Qingtang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Microsurgery and Orthopedic Trauma, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Microsurgery and Orthopedic Trauma, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Canbin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Microsurgery and Orthopedic Trauma, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Pengliang
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Microsurgery and Orthopedic Trauma, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Microsurgery and Orthopedic Trauma, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Microsurgery and Orthopedic Trauma, the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Jiakai
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
keywords: 863 Program; nerve regeneration; nerve repair; neural regeneration; outcome predictors; peripheral nerve injury; prognosis; univariate analysis; upper limb