MONDAY, Dec. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Techniques for repairing intradural nerve root injuries of the brachial plexus can be used on these injuries in the lumbar spine, according to a report in the December issue of the Journal of Spinal Disorders & Techniques.

A. Sivaraman, of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in London, United Kingdom, and colleagues describe a 29-year-old man who sustained a burst fracture of the second lumbar vertebra after jumping from a moving vehicle. Upon initial examination, he had complete muscle paralysis of the right leg.

At three days, the patient underwent decompression of the spinal canal and L1 to L3 fusion. At one week, he regained normal power in his leg, save for the iliopsoas and quadriceps muscles, the report indicates. Two weeks later, surgeons found lacerations of the right L2 and L3 ventral and dorsal nerve roots. They grafted sural nerve between the proximal and distal stumps of the ruptured nerve roots, the researchers report. At 18 months, the patient still had denervation of the quadriceps, but showed full recovery of the iliopsoas muscle.

"We were able to achieve complete functional recovery in one muscle group innervated by one of the repaired nerve roots with significant relief of pain, which is unlikely to have been achieved by conservative management, on the basis of our observations of previous similar injuries that have been managed conservatively," the authors conclude. "We have demonstrated the potential for significant functional recovery and relief of pain in traumatic lumbar nerve root ruptures when such injuries are managed by surgical exploration followed by repair."

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