The treatmen t of the bone defect of the distal part of the radiu s included repair of the bone defect and resto rat ion of the funct ion of the w rist jo in t. Since 1979, th ree operat ive methods w ere u sed to t reat 13 cases, and they w ere graf t ing of the vascu larized f ibu la by anastom rsis f ibu lar vessels, graf t ing of upper part of f ibu lar w ith lateral inferio rgen icu lar artery and graf t ing vascu larized scapu la f lap. Follow up had been carried ou t from1 to 10 years. The resu lt w as sat isfacto ry. The discu ssion included the repair of the defect of the m iddle o r distal part of the radiu s, the operat ive methods, main at ten t ion s and indications. It was considered that it shou ld be based on the length of bone defect wh ile the operative method was considered.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the reparative method and effect of radial nerve injury. METHODS: From 1990 to 2000, 50 cases with radial nerve injuries were adopted in this study. Among them, there were 38 males and 12 females, aged from 5 to 65 years. For the 50 cases, there were 28 cases with complete nerve rupture, 3 cases with incomplete nerve rupture, 10 cases with compressive injury, 5 cases with contusion injury and 4 cases with defect and irreversible injury. All the patients were treated with radial nerve exploration in 1 hour to 6 months after injury. 31 cases were treated with nerve anastomosis, 10 cases with nerve lytic operation, 4 cases with tendon transfer and 5 cases with palliative treatment. RESULTS: All the cases were followed up 3 months to 10 years. The curative effect was assessed according to Highest grade method. There were excellent and good results in 46 cases, moderate results in 4 cases. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to explore and repair the radial nerve injury immediately after the diagnosis being confirmed. If the function of radial nerve could not recover in 6 months, tendon transfer should be carried out to reconstruct the extension of elbow, thumb and fingers.