Research article
Advanced radiological work-up as an adjunct to decision in early reconstructive surgery in brachial plexus injuries
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* Corresponding author: Lars B Dahlin lars.dahlin@med.lu.se
1 Department of Radiology, Skåne University Hospital, S-205 02 Malmö, Sweden
2 Department of Hand Surgery, Skåne University Hospital, S-205 02 Malmö, Sweden
3 Department of Clinical Sciences Malmö - Hand Surgery, Lund University, S-205 02 Malmö, Sweden
Journal of Brachial Plexus and Peripheral Nerve Injury 2010, 5:14 doi:10.1186/1749-7221-5-14
Published: 8 July 2010Abstract
Background
As neurophysiologic tests may not reveal the extent of brachial plexus injury at the early stage, the role of early radiological work-up has become increasingly important. The aim of the study was to evaluate the concordance between the radiological and clinical findings with the intraoperative findings in adult patients with brachial plexus injuries.
Methods
Seven consecutive male patients (median age 33; range 15-61) with brachial plexus injuries, caused by motor cycle accidents in 5/7 patients, who underwent extensive radiological work-up with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography myelography (CT-M) or both were included in this retrospective study. A total of 34 spinal nerve roots were evaluated by neuroradiologists at two different occasions. The degree of agreement between the radiological findings of every individual nerve root and the intraoperative findings was estimated by calculation of kappa coefficient (К-value). Using the operative findings as a gold standard, the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of the clinical findings and the radiological findings were estimated.
Results
The diagnostic accuracy of radiological findings was 88% compared with 65% for the clinical findings. The concordance between the radiological findings and the intraoperative findings was substantial (К = 0.76) compared with only fair (К = 0.34) for the clinical findings. There were two false positive and two false negative radiological findings (sensitivity and PPV of 0.90; specificity and NPV of 0.87).
Conclusions
The advanced optimized radiological work-up used showed high reliability and substantial agreement with the intraoperative findings in adult patients with brachial plexus injury.