Anatomic study on the superficial radial nerve transplanting in repairing peripheral nerve defect and functional reconstruction of donor site

Objective To provide anatomic basis after cutting superficial radial nerve to repair peripheral nerve defect and functional reconstruction of donor site.Methods 30 adult cadaveric upper limbs(15 left limbs and 15 right limbs) were fixed by formaldehyde.The vertical dimension from bifurcation of superficial radial nerve to lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve and the vertical dimension to the median nerve were measured.The six fresh cadaveric upper limbs were made pathological section to count nerve-tract numbers of the same horizontal of cutaneous antebrachii lateralis nerve and median nerve under microscope.Results The vertical dimension from bifurcation of ramus superficial radial nerve to lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve was(6.0±1.5)mm,and the vertical dimension to the median nerve was(35.7±2.8)mm.At the same horizontal,the nerve-tract counts of superficial radial nerve were 6～10;cutaneous antebrachii lateralis nerve was 1～3;median nerve was 19～27.Conclusion The sensory function of the donor by way of end-to-side anastomosis between far broken ends of superficial radial nerve and median nerve or lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve can be reconstructed.