[Nerve transfers]

Nerve transfers are recent surgical techniques where an unaffected nerve or part of its fascicules is transferred onto another nerve and co-apted end-to-end, or sometimes end-to-side, in order to "reanimate", sensitive or motor deficits. The technique is indicated when the proximal nerve stump has been destroyed or is of bad histological quality (brachial plexus root avulsion, or stump hidden in an extended scar), far from the target (important loss of substance), or difficult to access. Nerve transfers may be indicated for the microsurgical repair of brachial or lumbo-sacral plexus lesions, and in specific upper and lower limb peripheral nerve injuries : rupture of the axillary nerve in the quadrilateral space, irreversible lesion of the upper trunk of the brachial plexus, and in facial nerve surgery.