Surgical treatment for peroneal nerve palsy

Peroneal nerve palsy is the most frequently encountered mononeuropathy of the lower extremities. Although many studies advocated spontaneous resolution of peroneal nerve palsy, more recent studies confirmed obvious improvement with surgical treatment techniques.

This study reviewed the results obtained from surgically treated peroneal nerve palsy in 14 patients who were admitted to our hospital between 1990 and 1996. The patients consisted of 12 males and two females with an average age of 31 years (range, 12-68 years). Peroneal nerve palsy in these patients was caused by direct or indirect injury, as confirmed by clinical examination and electromyography. The status of the nerve was observed for at least 4 months and explored when the nerve failed to reveal evidence of recovery. The nerve was decompressed, repaired or reconstructed by nerve grafting, according to the status of the injury. Weber scales were used to assess the peripheral neuropathies preoperatively and postoperatively.

At a mean of 23 months (range, 11-61 months), nerve palsy scores improved from an average of 5 points to 3.14 points. Despite the small number of patients, our results indicated that the time interval between onset of injury and date of surgical treatment (p < 0.05) was the most significant factor to influence the prognosis of surgery. Results obtained from surgery were not related to the method of treatment, length of nerve graft or mechanism of injury.

Because peroneal nerve palsy does not always resolve spontaneously, this study favored early surgical exploration for peroneal nerve dysfunction, based on at least 4 months of follow-up.