Ga. Brunelli et Gr. Brunelli, Restoration of walking in paraplegia by transferring the ulnar nerve to the hip: A report on the first patient, MICROSURG, 19(5), 1999, pp. 223-226
There is no known way to make paraplegics walk when their spinal cord is co
mpletely transected. Many researchers worldwide have been developing differ
ent methods to solve this problem. We believe that transferring a sound ner
ve; from the upper limb to the main muscles of the hip could help paraplegi
cs to walk, although light orthotic devices would still be needed. We chose
to transfer the ulnar nerve because it is the longest in the upper limb an
d can reach the glutei without grafts. In addition, palsy of the ulnar nerv
e can tie repaired by classical reconstructive surgery. After many years of
research in animals and after obtaining permission from the Ethical Commit
tee of the National Health Surgery, we operated on three human beings bilat
erally. The first patient is walking. Two are still recovering. (C) 1999 Wi
ley-Liss, Inc.