In January two Baltimore surgeons - with the help of a New York expert who was looped into the operating room at the last minute via video call - performed microsurgery that appears to have been successful.
Sandra G. Boodman, 2022, The Washington PostThe act was so routine Michael Brenner never thought about it - until the Sunday morning in June 2021 when he ambled over to his computer to type a quick note and discovered he couldn't. Brenner, who is right-handed, was unable to lift or extend his fingers, which felt inexplicably stiff. His left hand was unaffected.Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post.
The internist mentioned "Saturday Night Palsy," which occurs when the radial nerve is compressed after a person, often intoxicated, falls asleep on an arm pressed against a hard surface. Brenner, who doesn't drink, assured him that no such event had occurred. Early on, Brenner had devised workarounds for most activities. He could grip a fork to feed himself but couldn't manipulate it normally because he couldn't extend his fingers. "I couldn't take it out of my right hand without pulling the utensil out using my left," he said. "I ate a lot of fish" and foods that didn't need to be cut.
The hand surgeon called early the next morning with a recommendation that Brenner see a neurologist and repeat the EMG in 90 days. If the first surgery hadn't worked, the doctor said, the next step would be a tendon transfer, which moves a working muscle and tendon in place of a nonworking one. The surgery is often performed on nerves that are damaged beyond repair.
"He told me there's really nothing else this could be," Brenner said, even though he had not experienced pain, which is typically the first symptom. The condition, which affects more men than women, often starts as a sudden sharp pain in the shoulder or upper arm that strikes in the middle of the night.
Belzburg told Brenner that he performs such procedures with plastic and reconstructive surgeon Sami Tuffaha, who has advanced training in hand surgery. "We FaceTimed him into the OR, and he's looking at our microscope and we talked about what to do next," Tuffaha said. "Scott convinced us that microneurolysis should work." Wolfe recommended wrapping the damaged nerve in connective tissue harvested from Brenner's wrist to protect it.
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