Contact: Julia Evangelou Strait
straitj@wustl.edu
314-286-0141
Washington University School of Medicine

Surgeons Restore Some Hand Function to Quadriplegic Patient (2 of 2)

Caption: Surgeons at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have restored some hand function in a quadriplegic patient with a spinal cord injury at the C7 vertebra, the lowest bone in the neck. Instead of operating on the spine itself, the surgeons rerouted working nerves in the upper arms. These nerves still "talk" to the brain because they attach to the spine above the injury.

Credit: Jim Dryden

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