United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi guys,

just a couple of questions:

has any of you faced a muscle transfer surgery to the biceps?
What are the results you achieved, if any?
Is that a surgery that you would suggest?

Thanks,
Paolo

yes Ive had one.

After the operation eveytime i coughed my arm would lift up .it has been about 5yrs since I had mine and it is of use Has I can carry light things on my arm for a short time .

I had a latissimus muscle transfer and it helped to bend my arm and carry very light things for a short period of time. Long recovery but worth it as I couldn't bend my arm at all before the operation. e-mail me if you have any questions. Thx, Mark

Willie what nervre did they use and musule..........thanks..Paul

Thanks Mark for your answer,

have you ever heard about the utilization of the gracile muscle (from the leg) instead of the latissimus?
What do you mean about long recovery?
Any side effect?

Ciao
Paolo

No I have not heard about the muscle transfer from the leg. My Dr. said he usually uses either the back muscle or the chest muscle. With my operation Dr.Lobay didn't completely remove the strip of latissimus he used. He took a long strip from the left shoulder blade area down to the lower part of my back but still attatched at the top. The incision is about 16- 18 inches long on my back. Then he routed the muscle under my armpit down through my bicep and attatched to the inside of my forearm. There was another incision under my armpit about 2-3 inches to help to feed the muscle through and another about 6-7 inches long from the inside of my bicep down to the inside of my forearm. This is where he did alot of work to make the bicep look normal and to hook the muscle up to the forearm. The operation was just over 7 hrs long. When I woke up I was in a half cast the full length of my arm at about a 45 degree bent position. I had a large dressing over the incision down my back with a drain tube from the top of the incision down to the bottom of where the muscle was removed as this is where most of the fluid accumulates. I was in the hospital for about 3 days and then back to get the drain removed and splint put on after about 6 days. They took the half cast off and put a plastic splint and sling on my arm which had to stay on for close to three months. It is a year full recovery from this operation which lets my arm bend at the elbow but all of the original injury pain is still there. I think I made a pretty good recovery after about ten months but i still had to be carefull until I built the muscle a bit stronger then I could use it a bit. I had the operation about a year and a half after the accident and it will be 4 yrs on May 28/ 03 since the accident. For the first couple weeks after I started taking my splint off and on, and started to try and bend my arm, I really had to concentrate on the top end of the muscle he moved. Sort of like bending your arm with the top of your back. After awhile it started to come more natural. Otherwise I had no side effects at all from the latissimus muscle transfer.
Thanks, Mark

My 15 year old son had "double Doi" free muscle transfers done in Feb & Apr this year. The doctors at the Mayo Clinic took both gracilis muscles from his inner thighs, along with sural nerves, phrenic, "good" C7 & intercostals to ultimately give him movement of elbow, wrist & even grasp & release of his hand. John had all BP nerves avulsed (C5,6,7,8,T1) in November '02.

We're very pleased with the team approach offered at the Mayo Clinic - the three doctors who work together offer an impressive combination of expertise (Bishop, Shin, Spinner). Feel free to email me if you want more info.

Ellen

Hi Ellen,
thanks for your answer.
I'm sorry for your son, we are in the same condition: I had all my nerves avulsed in feb '00, and a nerve graft surgery in July '00.
In October I'll decide with the surgeon about muscle transfer and fingers and wrist fusion, so at the moment I'm tring to collect as many informations I can about these procedures.
I'll surely email you soon
Good luck to your son and let us know how's thing going

Ciao
Paolo

Who would you all recommend to get this surgery from? I need to find a doctor that can perform this surgery because it has been recommended that I get it. Nobody in Michigan does this type of surgery. Thanks

Also, could you please put where the doctor is located? Thanks