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Satisfaction with upper-extremity surgery in individuals with tetraplegia
Kathryn Stroh Wuolle1, Anne M Bryden, P Hunter Peckham
1Cleveland Functional Electrical Stimulation Center, Louis B. Stokes Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, OH 44109, USA.
Objective:
To measure the satisfaction of individuals with tetraplegia with their upper-extremity reconstructive surgery.
Design:
Survey.
Setting:
Two Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems centers.
Participants:
Sixty-seven individuals with spinal cord injury at the C4 through C8 motor level (107 arms).
Interventions:
Participants had upper-extremity surgery to improve function. The surgical procedures included tendon transfers for elbow extension, wrist extension, hand grasp, and pinch or hand grasp neuroprosthesis.
Main Outcome Measure:
A survey was mailed to participants, who were asked to respond to statements such as, "If I had it to do over, I would have the hand/arm surgery again," using a 5-level Likert scale (ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree).
Results:
Seventy percent of the participants were generally satisfied with the results of their upper-extremity surgery, 77% reported a positive impact on their lives, 68% reported improvements in activities of daily living (ADLs), 66% reported improved independence, 69% reported improvement in occupation, 71% reported improved appearance or neutral, 78% reported their hand worked as well (or neutral) as it did when surgery was first performed, and 86% reported postoperative therapy as being beneficial.
Conclusions:
Upper-extremity surgery had a positive impact on life, increased ability to perform ADLs and to be independent, and improved quality of life.