Lower limb nerve injuries in children.

The aim of this paper is to emphasize the seriousness of pediatric peripheral nerve injuries of lower limbs and to stress the importance of early exploration of the injured nervous trunk in order to reduce the number of unfavorable outcomes. Among 136 traumatic peripheral nerve injuries in the children we treated, 31 nerve injuries of the lower limbs were observed. Causes of injury and time to recovery were evaluated. The sciatic nerve was involved in 19 cases, peroneal nerve in 11, root avulsions of the spinal cord in 1. We observed complete recovery in 12 cases and incomplete or no recovery at all in 19. The mean time to recovery in patients who underwent surgery was 18 months (range: 1-32). Considering the rate of spontaneous recovery of postinjection nerve injuries of the sciatic nerve and early onset of skeletal deformities, a closed nerve injury of the lower limb with no recovery within 3 months should always undergo surgery, even if complete functional outcome is not always guaranteed. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.