Peripheral nerve injuries of the hand in children. A follow-up study of 38 patients.

Thirty-eight children in whom a peripheral nerve injury of the hand had been repaired from 2 to 18 years earlier (mean 7.5 years) were examined. All repairs had been performed with the conventional technique with epineural sutures, and nearly all were primary neurorrhaphies. Sensory recovery was evaluated by using the two-point discrimination test (2 PD). The results were considered good if the 2 PD value was less than 6 mm and poor if this value was more than 15 mm. Of the 20 repairs of an ulnar or median nerve, or both, results were good in eight (40%), fair in 10 (50%) and poor in two (10%). Of the 18 digital nerve repairs, results were good in 14 (77.8%) and fair in four. The results in this series are better than results reported for adults series.