Estudo da relação anatômica do nervo sensitivo radial após fixação percutânea com fios de Kirschner

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To establish the risk of lesion to the radial sensory nerve after percutaneous fixation in the distal radius region of cadavers. METHODS: The authors used 24 upper limbs of 12 skeletally mature cadavers, 10 male, and 2 female, mean age estimated as 50 years. A Kirschner wire was introduced in the styloid process of the radius to make the following determinations: distance between the wire and the radial sensory nerve, between the wire and the closest dorsal nerve branch, between the wire and the tendons of the first osteofibrous tunnel, and, finally, the number of branches of the radial sensory nerve. RESULTS: The site were the nerve appeared, between the two tendons and the Kirschner wire in the radial styloid process was a mean 5.09 cm, with a standard deviation of 0.75 cm. The distance between the Kirschner wire and the first dorsal branch was a mean 4.33 cm, ranging from zero to 10 cm. The number of nervous branches was a mean of four, ranging from two to eight branches. CONCLUSION: Results of this experimental study showed that when the wire is introduced in the styloid process of the radius, the risk of lesioning the radial sensory nerve is not a big risk. This risk is directly related to the number of nervous branches and to the angles of the wires while they are being introduced in the distal end of the radius.