Application of Supercharge End-to-Side (SETS) Obturator to Femoral Nerve Transfer in Electrical Injury-Induced Neuropathy to Improve Knee Extension

Femoral nerve injuries are devastating injuries that lead to paralysis of the quadriceps muscles, weakening knee extension to prohibit ambulation. We report a devastating case of electrical injury-induced femoral neuropathy, where no apparent site of nerve disruption can be identified, thus inhibiti...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Katie Pei-Hsuan Wu, Li-Ching Lin, Johnny Chuieng-Yi Lu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc. 2022-11-01
Series:Archives of Plastic Surgery
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.1055/s-0042-1756290
Description
Summary:Femoral nerve injuries are devastating injuries that lead to paralysis of the quadriceps muscles, weakening knee extension to prohibit ambulation. We report a devastating case of electrical injury-induced femoral neuropathy, where no apparent site of nerve disruption can be identified, thus inhibiting the traditional choices of nerve reconstruction such as nerve repair, grafting, or transfer. Concomitant spinal cord injury resulted in spastic myopathy of the antagonist muscles that further restricted knee extension. Our strategy was to perform (1) supercharge end-to-side technique (SETS) to augment the function of target muscles and (2) fractional tendon lengthening to release the spastic muscles. Dramatic postoperative improvement in passive and active range of motion highlights the effectiveness of this strategy to manage partial femoral nerve injuries.
ISSN:2234-6163
2234-6171