Upper Extremity Elbow Flexion Shows Improvement with ArmTutor

On November 28, 2011 M.J. Dorsi and A.J. Belzberg of the Department of Neurosurgery, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. write that Transverse myelitis (TM) may result in permanent neurologic dysfunction. Nerve transfers have been developed to restore function after peripheral nerve injury. Here, we present a case report of a child with permanent right upper extremity weakness due to TM that underwent nerve transfers. The following procedures were performed: double fascicle transfer from median nerve and ulnar nerve to the brachialis and biceps branches of the musculocutaneous nerve, spinal accessory to suprascapular nerve, and medial cord to axillary nerve end-to-side neurorraphy. At 22 months, the patient demonstrated excellent recovery of elbow flexion with minimal improvement in shoulder abduction. We propose that the treatment of permanent deficits from TM represents a novel indication for nerve transfers in a subset of patients.
The ArmTutor has shown to be effective in resolving movement ability especially with upper extremity and shoulder abduction difficulties during rehabilitation therapy.
The ArmTutor™ system consists of an ergonomic wearable arm brace and dedicated rehabilitation software. The ArmTutor™ system allows for a range of biomechanical evaluation including speed, passive and active range of motion and motion analysis of the upper extremity. Quantitative biomechanical data allow for objective evaluation and rehabilitation treatment follow up. The ArmTutor™ rehabilitation concept is based on performing controlled exercise rehabilitation practice at a patient customized level with real time accurate feedback on the patient’s performance. The exercises are designed in the form of challenging games that are suitable for a wide variety of neurological and orthopedic injury and disease.The games challenge the patient to perform the exercise task to their best ability and to continue exercise practice.
The ArmTutor™ allows for isolated and a combination of elbow and three directional shoulder treatment. The system provides detailed exercise performance instructions and precise feedback on the patients exercise performance. Controlled exercise of multijoints within the normal movement pattern prevents the development of undesired and compensatory joint movement and ensures better performance of functional tasks.
The ArmTutor™ system together with its sister devices (HandTutor, LegTutor, 3DTutor) is used by many leading rehabilitation centers worldwide and has full FDA and CE certification. See www.HandTutor.com for more information.