Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Satisfaction with upper-extremity surgery in individuals with tetraplegia1,21No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the authors or any organization with which the authors are associated.2Reprint requests to Laura Polacek, MetroHealth Medical Center, Rehabilitation Engineering Center (H601), 2500 MetroHealth Dr, Cleveland, OH 44109-1998, e-mail: LKP3@po.cwru.edu

2003; Elsevier BV; Volume: 84; Issue: 8 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0003-9993(03)00292-2

1532-821X

Kathryn Stroh Wuolle, Anne M. Bryden, P. Hunter Peckham, Patrick Murray, Michael W. Keith,

Assistive Technology in Communication and Mobility

Wuolle KS, Bryden AM, Peckham PH, Murray PK, Keith M. Satisfaction with upper-extremity surgery in individuals with tetraplegia. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2003;84:1145–9. Objective: To measure the satisfaction of individuals with tetraplegia with their upper-extremity reconstructive surgery. Design: Survey. Setting: Two Spinal Cord Injury Model Systems centers. Participants: Sixty-seven individuals with spinal cord injury at the C4 through C8 motor level (107 arms). Interventions: Participants had upper-extremity surgery to improve function. The surgical procedures included tendon transfers for elbow extension, wrist extension, hand grasp, and pinch or hand grasp neuroprosthesis. Main Outcome Measure: A survey was mailed to participants, who were asked to respond to statements such as, "If I had it to do over, I would have the hand/arm surgery again," using a 5-level Likert scale (ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree). Results: Seventy percent of the participants were generally satisfied with the results of their upper-extremity surgery, 77% reported a positive impact on their lives, 68% reported improvements in activities of daily living (ADLs), 66% reported improved independence, 69% reported improvement in occupation, 71% reported improved appearance or neutral, 78% reported their hand worked as well (or neutral) as it did when surgery was first performed, and 86% reported postoperative therapy as being beneficial. Conclusions: Upper-extremity surgery had a positive impact on life, increased ability to perform ADLs and to be independent, and improved quality of life.