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European Spine Journal
Published in: European Spine Journal 4/2017

01-04-2017 | Original Article

Drop finger caused by 8th cervical nerve root impairment: a clinical case series

Authors: Masao Koda, Takeo Furuya, Tomoyuki Rokkaku, Masazumi Murakami, Yasushi Ijima, Junya Saito, Mitsuhiro Kitamura, Seiji Ohtori, Sumihisa Orita, Kazuhide Inage, Masashi Yamazaki, Chikato Mannoji

Published in: European Spine Journal | Issue 4/2017

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Abstract

Purpose

Recently, it has been reported that impairment by an 8th cervical nerve root lesion can cause drop finger, namely C8 drop finger. Here, we report a clinical case series of C8 drop finger to reveal the clinical outcome of surgical treatments to allow for a better choice of treatment.

Methods

The present study included 17 consecutive patients who were diagnosed as having C8 drop finger, in which muscle strength of the extensor digitorum communis (EDC) showed a manual muscle testing (MMT) grade of 3 or less. We retrospectively investigated the clinical characteristics of C8 drop finger and recovery of muscle power was measured by subtraction of preoperative MMT of the EDC from the final follow-up values.

Results

Nine cases showed recovery of muscle power of EDC, whereas the remaining eight cases did not show any recovery including two cases of deterioration. None of the conservatively treated patients showed any recovery. Surgically treated cases included two cases of deterioration. In the cases showing recovery, recovery began 9.9 months after surgery on average and recovery took 13.8 months after surgery on average. There was a significant difference in the recovery of MMT grade between the groups treated conservatively and surgically (p = 0.049). Preoperative MMT grade of EDC showed a moderate correlation with postoperative recovery (r 2 = 0.45, p = 0.003). In other words, the severity of preoperative muscular weakness correlated negatively with postoperative recovery.

Conclusions

C8 drop finger is better treated by surgery than conservative therapy.
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Metadata
Title
Drop finger caused by 8th cervical nerve root impairment: a clinical case series
Authors
Masao Koda
Takeo Furuya
Tomoyuki Rokkaku
Masazumi Murakami
Yasushi Ijima
Junya Saito
Mitsuhiro Kitamura
Seiji Ohtori
Sumihisa Orita
Kazuhide Inage
Masashi Yamazaki
Chikato Mannoji
Publication date
01-04-2017
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
European Spine Journal / Issue 4/2017
Print ISSN: 0940-6719
Electronic ISSN: 1432-0932
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-016-4836-2

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