(Institute of Orthopedics of PLA, Xijing Hospital of the Fourth Military Medical University. Xi'an Shanxi, P. R. China 710032)
Abstract：Objective To analysis the clinical characters of gluteal sciatic nerve injuries and investigate the treatment options.Methods From October 1962 to June 1997, 190 patients with gluteal sciatic nerve injuries were adopted in this retrospective study. In these cases, the sciatic nerve injuries were caused by injection in 164 patients(86.32%), stab injury in 14 patients, pelvic fracture and hip dislocation in 11 patients, and contusion injury in 1 patient. Among them, 15 cases were treated by conservative method and the other 175 cases were operated. According to the observation during the operations, the injuries were occurred at the region of gluteal muscle in 146 cases, at the region of piriform muscle in 26 cases, and at the region of pelvic cavity in 3 cases. Then neurolysis was performed in 160 cases, epineurial neurorrhaphy in 12 cases and nerve grafting in 2 cases, and nerve exploration but no repair in 1 case. Late stage functional reconstruction of the foot and ankle was carried out in 23 cases.Results One hundred and fifty-one patients were followed up 8.5 years in average. The occurrence of excellent and good nerve recovery was 56.95% and the occurrence of excellent and good functional reconstruction of late stage was 78.26%.Conclusion The gluteal sciatic nerve injury has since been challenging because of the tremendous difficulty in treatment and the poor outcome. The injury situation at the different region was closely related to the regional anatomy. According to this study, it is advised that the surgical treatment should be carried out actively. Neurolysis should be performed as soon as possible in the cases of injection injury. Epineurial neurorrhaphy should be performed in the cases of nerve rupture . In case of the gluteal sciatic nerve injury which caused by pelvic fracture or hip dislocation, the reduction and decompression is suggested in the early stage, and exploration and nerve repair is indicated in the late stage. The functional reconstruction of foot and ankle should be carried out in the late stage for the improvement of the limb function.
