Entropie

Restoring Hand Function To a Quadriplegic Patient

Doctors were able to restore this 71 year old man’s finger motor function which he had previously lost due to spinal cord damage from a car accident in 2008. They were able to do this by replacing the damaged nerve in his C7 vertebrae, which had been crushed, so the connection between the fingers and brain was restored.

The technique relies on taking ‘sacrificial’ nerves from other parts of the body which in this case was in the elbow and, as a result, the patient has to retrain their brain to pinch with the nerve that used to bend their elbow. Although this surgery would be unsuccessful for patients with injuries higher up on the spinal cord, it is a relatively simple procedure and could be carried out by other surgeons.