[Peripheral nerve injury as a complication from orthopedic operation]

Nerve injury following operation is one of the main causes of the iatrogenic peripheral nerve injury. In order to learn lessons from these cases, one hundred and seven cases of peripheral nerve injury complicated with the orthopedic operations were analyzed. Forty-four cases were cutting injury during operation, made up 41% of all cases and 27 cases were stretch and compression injury, made up 25%. The involved nerves included 41 radial nerves and 24 common peroneal nerves, composing 60.7% of all nerve injury. The operations responsible were mainly the bone and joint operations, which made up 81%. The cause, prophylaxis, diagnosis and treatment were discussed. The rich appropriate knowledge of anatomy and responsibility of the surgeon were emphasized in order to prevent the occurrence of complication. Once the injury was suspected, diagnosis should be made promptly and effective treatment should be performed in time.