| Objective To study the influence on the early respiratory function in adults after transfer of phrenic nerve. Methods The changes of preoperative and postoperative(10days) pulmonary function were compared on 16 patients who underwent transfer of phrenic nerve. At the same time, we investigated periodically the changes of the respiratory symptoms in the patients. Results Postoperatively, majority of these patients developed any clinic symptoms of respiratory insufficiency, all of them demonstrated hemidiaphragm elevasion at the operation side on radiography, vital capacity(Vc) and percentage of predicted value of vital capacity(Vc%) decreased 38% and 26.88% on average respectively. There was statistical significant difference. Other statistical significant difference existed among residual volume (RV), total lung capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume at 1.0 second (FEV1), ratio of FEV1 and FVC (FEV1/FVC), when compared with those before operation. There was a statistic significant difference when the variation of pre-and postoperative vital capacity(Vc) between right-sided and left-sided patients were compared. Conclusion Transfer of phrenic nerve in adults led to reduction in lung volume and ventilation function, increased in treacheole resistance, but which was not beyond the tolerance of the patients and might not give rise to urgent respiratory dysfunction. We suggest when the right phrenic nerve is used as a donor in neurotization to treat the patients with right-sided brachial plexus root avulsion, thepulmonary and cardiac function has to be carefully examined preoperatively to avoid any serious complication. If possible, the left phrenic nerve should be preferred.
|
PDF Full Text Request