• Lei Zhang, Chun-Lin Zhang, Zhen Dong, and Yu-Dong Gu.
• Department of Orthopedics, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
• Neurosurgery. 2017 Apr 1; 80 (4): 627-634.

BackgroundFunctional recovery following supinator motor branch transfer requires further investigation.ObjectiveTo compare the outcome of finger extension after supinator motor branch transfer or contralateral C7 (cC7) transfer in C7-T1 brachial plexus palsies in rats.MethodsIn this study, 120 adult rats underwent C7-T1 nerve root avulsion and received different nerve transfer repairs: group A, cC7 nerve transfer to the lower trunk; group B, supinator motor branch nerve transfer to the posterior interosseous nerve (PIN); and group C, no repair. The ethology of the rats, latency and amplitude of the compound muscle action potential from the PIN, muscle mass and muscle fiber cross-sectional area of the extensor digitorum communis and extensor carpi ulnaris, and number of myelinated nerve fibers in the PIN were examined postoperatively.ResultsThere was no finger extension in group C. We observed finger extension in groups A and B 50.2 ± 5.66 and 13.1 ± 2.08 days postoperatively, respectively. Finger extension restoration in group B was greater than that in group A at 4, 8, and 12 weeks postoperatively ( P < .05). Sixteen weeks after surgery, the recovery rate of the myelinated nerve fibers in group A was marginally higher than that in group B, but the difference was not significant. Of the other measured values, group B showed a greater and significant improvement compared to group A ( P < .05).ConclusionSupinator motor branch transfer allows for faster recovery and is a more effective procedure for restoring finger extension in C7-T1 brachial plexus palsies.Copyright © 2017 by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons

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