Satisfaction with upper-extremity surgery in individuals with tetraplegia

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. (C) 2003 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine an Rehabilitation.