Repair of sciatic nerve injury

Objective To summarize repair methods and results of sciatic nerve injury. Methods Repair of sciatic nerve injury was carried out in 28 patients between January 1990 and July 2000.The methods of nerve repair included neurolysis, neurolysis plus partial nerve repair, nerve repair and nerve graft. The outcome was evaluated according to Sunderland criteria. Results Twenty two patients were followed up with a follow up period from 13 months to 5 years (average of 2 year 6 months). Of 22 nerves, 7 were excellent, 5 good, 7 fair and 3 poor. Conclusions The fair results of sciatic nerve injury are due to its anatomical characteristic. Surgical procedure should be performed if nerve function does not recover after 3 months or Tinel's sign and electromyogram show no signs of nerve regeneration. Electrophysiological monitoring in the operation is useful in selecting operation methods and predicting the results of nerve repair.