Surgical management for sciatic nerve injury.

Objective: To summarize surgical treatments and their corresponding curative effects on sciatic nerve injuries.

Methods: Surgical treatments on sciatic nerve injury were performed in 28 patients from January 1990 to July 2000. The treatments included neurolysis, neurolysis plus partial nerve anastomosis, nerve anastomosis and nerve transplantation. The curative effect was evaluated according to Sunderland criteria.

Results: Of 28 cases, 22 patients were followed up with a follow-up period of 13 months to 5 years (average 30 months). Of 22 nerves, 7 were excellent, 5 good, 7 fair and 3 poor, with an excellence rate of 54.5%.

Conclusions: The fair results of sciatic nerve injury are related to its structural character. Surgical exploration should be performed if nerve function does not recover 3 months after primary operation and if Tinel's sign and electromyogram show no signs of nerve regeneration. Electrophysiological monitoring in the operation is useful in electing surgical methods and predicting the results of nerve anastomosis.