These children need physical and functional treatment in order to preserve the vitality of the joints and paralyzed muscles during their treatment period. With the grace of God Almighty the success of the first restoration operation of the nerve plexus of a child at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Jeddah was done by Dr. Badr Abdul Raouf, consultant in reconstructive and cosmetic surgery in the hospital, where the operation took More than 14 hours for its accuracy.
Dr. Badr said that all arm movements from the shoulder to the fingers in addition to sensation depend on a complex network of nerves called the plexus, through which signals pass between the brain and the muscles of the arm. He added: The child was subjected to obstructed labor and tightening of the nerve plexus of the right arm, leading to complete paralysis in the arm and after the necessary examinations, he decided to have a reconstructive and cosmetic surgery to perform a restoration of the nerve plexus, where the child was ten months old at the time and the operation was done by taking non-essential nerve joints from the legs And it was used to restore the nerve plexus in the neck to replace the damaged parts, as the operation took (14) hours due to its accuracy and being a microscopic operation, as it was the first operation of its kind in the hospital.
It is worth noting that the girl has reached the age of 4 years and, thank God, is able to move the arm and perform some basic functions with it, and she may need a secondary operation to transfer the tendons to improve some tasks.
Dr. Badr explained that these children need physical and functional treatment to maintain the vitality of their joints and paralyzed muscles during their treatment period.
He said that the percentage of cases that need surgical intervention is small, thank God, but if the operation is decided, it must be during the first four to nine months of the child''s age so that there is no complete atrophy of the paralyzed muscles, and success in such operations is known that the child can perform Some basic functions of the arm and not returning to the normal position, and the child may need for three years to know the result of the operation as the nerves need to grow again to supply the muscles with signals. As for the success of the operation, it depends on the degree of injury. In addition, many children need secondary operations. Such as transferring tendons to improve the position of a joint or a specific function.
In a special statement, Dr. Tariq Langawi, Executive Director General of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Jeddah, explained that this operation is one of the complex surgeries that are only performed in advanced medical centers due to its difficulty and need for medical staff with international competence and experience and advanced equipment.
