Surgical outcomes of ulnar nerve lesions in children. A retrospective clinical study.

The ulnar nerve provides the major motor innervation of the interosseous muscles of the hand and the flexor muscles of the wrist and the fourth and fifth digits. Injury is most common at the wrist, forearm or elbow, secondary to trauma or entrapment. Pediatric ulnar nerve lesions differ from adult lesions by their quicker axonal regeneration. Neural plasticity is also greater in children. We analyzed 21 pediatric patients with ulnar nerve lesion who underwent surgical treatment between 1995 and 2002 to determine if there were differences in the neurological outcome in terms of the type of lesion and surgery. Data showed that excellent results were found in 100% of the lesions treated by simple decompression and nearly 58% of the lesions treated by neurolysis. Good results were obtained in 33% of lesions treated by neurolysis. There were fair results for surgery performed in discontinuous lesions.