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Nerve & Tendon Transfer Surgery Decision Aid

Improve arm and hand movement after cervical spinal cord injury (SCI)

Welcome!

This decision aid website is designed for people who have had a cervical level spinal cord injury (SCI) that limits movement in their arms and hands.

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This website will describe 2 types of surgery that research shows can help improve arm and hand movement that you lost from your injury. These surgeries are called nerve transfer and tendon transfer.

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This website will help you: 

  • Consider your chances of recovering naturally with no surgery (called natural recovery) 

  • Think about if surgery is right for you 

  • Compare nerve transfer and tendon transfer surgeries

 

If you want to learn about treatment options other than surgery, talk to your health care team.

Watch a short video about what you can do on this website

Start thinking about surgery soon after SCI

Surgery may be an option for you to improve arm and hand movement, but some surgeries may only be an option within 6–12 months after SCI. This makes them time sensitive, which means that they are not an option later than 6-12 months after SCI.

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Learn why some surgery options are time-sensitive (not an option after 6-12 months).  

 

Keep the window of opportunity open and talk to your health care team about surgery as soon as possible (ideally within 6 months after SCI).

 

Why consider surgery? 

Improved arm and hand movement can be useful for doing more things on your own, such as eating, bowel and bladder function, and moving from a wheelchair to bed.  â€‹â€‹

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