Restoration of sensibility in the hand after complete brachial plexus injury.

Twenty-one patients with complete brachial plexus palsy due to the avulsion of multiple cervical nerve roots underwent motor and sensory reconstruction. Of these, 15 patients who had been followed for at least 2 years were included in the present study. Sensory reconstruction was performed by nerve graft or nerve crossing to the median nerve. The donor nerves included the supraclavicular nerve in 10 patients, the intercostal nerve in 3, and the C5 nerve root in the first 2 patients. Limited sensibility in the median nerve distribution of the hand was restored in 12 patients, and the results were classified as S2+ in 2, S2 in 4, S1 in 6, and S0 in 3, according to the S0 to S4 grading system. No moving two-point discrimination was restored in any case. While the best recovery obtained was only at the S2+ level, even this limited sensibility was useful for otherwise completely anesthetic patients.