A new technique of operation for opposition of the thumb in thenar muscle paralysis.

The author presents a new technique of dynamic operation designed to restore the opposition of the thumb in cases of distal median nerve paralysis affecting muscles of the thenar. The technique makes use of the function of the long flexor of the thumb as the basic motor unit to make up for the lost opposition of the thumb by means of a tendon graft from the m. palmaris longus or m. flexor digiti IV superficialis. Referring to literary sources and to his own surgical results, the author shows the simplicity of the operation and the usefulness of early rehabilitation for the restoration of the grasping function of the human hand.