Successful reeducation of functional sensibility after median nerve repair at the wrist.
The effect of sensory reeducation was evaluated in a group of twenty-two adult patients who had a repair of a clean-cut median nerve at the wrist. These results were compared with the sensibility in a group of twenty-four adults with repair of clean-cut median nerve at the wrist who had never received sensory reeducation. The reeducation group were evaluated between one and two years from the time of their median nerve repair. The control patients were retrospectively evaluated between one and sixteen years after their nerve repair. The effect of reeducation on improving the paresthesias that accompany neural regeneration was also evaluated. Sensibility was determined by an object recognition test and by measurement of static and moving two-point discrimination. The results demonstrated that sensory reeducation significantly (p less than 0.01) diminished the severity of postoperative paresthesias. It also gave significantly better improvement in moving two-point discrimination than in static two-point discrimination within the timeframe evaluated (p less than 0.002). Excellent recovery of sensibility, as determined by ability to recognize nine or more objects out of twelve, was significantly greater (p less than 0.005) for the sensory reeducation group than at any time interval beginning after six months after nerve repair. It is concluded that a program of sensory reeducation after median nerve repair at the wrist in adults minimizes discomfort and improves sensibility in the postoperative period.