Long-term effects of finger amputation on stump skin sensibility and digital nerve conduction
✍ Scribed by Nai-Shin Chu
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1996
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 254 KB
- Volume
- 19
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0148-639X
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✦ Synopsis
Retrograde degeneration of the nerve proximal to transection has been reported in animal experiments and human case^.'.^,^,' This observation was usually made on large nerves such as the median, ulnar, peroneal, and tibia1 nerves, and the duration of observation was relatively short, usually weeks to months.'~~ Whether retrograde changes are permanent and whether they occur in small nerves such the palmar digital nerve are still not clear. Moreover, our knowledge of the cutaneous sensation over the finger amputation is limited." In this report, long-term effects of finger amputation on the stump skin sensibility and on the digital nerve conduction were investigated.
Methods
Eleven patients with traumatic digit amputation for 3-37years (mean, 16 ? 10years) were studied (Table ). The length of the digit amputated ranged from 1 to 6 cm. The injured digital nerves were in the median nerve territory. None of the patients had neuropathies.
The patients were asked about abnormal sensations in the area of amputation that occurred spontaneously or were evoked by contact with objects. Responses of the skin over the amputation to various sensory stimuli were investigated. Cotton thread was used for light touch, toothpick for pressure, retractable needle weighing 12 g (Yufu Seiki, Tokyo) for pinprick, test tube filled with hot or ice-cold water