Single-stage reconstruction of key pinch and extension of the elbow in tetraplegic patients.

The results in ten arms of nine patients who had post-traumatic tetraplegia at the fifth or sixth cervical level were reviewed after combined transfer of the brachioradialis to the flexor pollicis longus and of the posterior part of the deltoid to the triceps tendon to restore key pinch and extension of the elbow. The average age of the patients was twenty-nine years, the average time from the injury to the operation was five years, and the average duration of follow-up was thirty-one months. Key pinch improved from essentially none preoperatively to an average of 2.