MANAGEMENT OF ULNAR NERVE INJURIES

Ulnar nerve injuries are common in young people. When there is a delay in the diagnosis and surgical management, the results are usually poo r and can be permanent. Nerve grafting procedures were carried out in 85 patients with ulnar nerve injuries and 30 patients with both ulnar and median nerve injuries between 1981 and 1992. The patients could be divided into three categories according to the level of the trauma. G roup A with injuries in the carpal area consisted of 43 cases with uln ar nerve injuries and 30 cases with both ulnar and median nerve injuri es. Group B comprised 25 patients with ulnar nerve injuries in the are a of elbow due to bone fractures. Group C comprised 18 patients with u lnar nerve injuries in the upper arm area. The quality of the function al results was closely related to the age of patients with better resu lts in younger people and to early post-traumatic management of the in jury. This was particularly notable in group C where, although there w as high nerve damage, young patients and patients with early treatment generally had a better response than patients with lower ulnar nerve lesions. In contrast, we found that in cases of delay in surgical proc edures for mixed nerve damage, the response was poor.