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Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry logoLink to Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry
. 1984 Jun;47(6):630–636. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.47.6.630

Conduction studies along the accessory nerve and follow-up of patients with trapezius palsy.

J E Petrera, W Trojaborg
PMCID: PMC1027862  PMID: 6736997

Abstract

The accessory nerve was stimulated at the posterior triangle of the neck and responses were evoked simultaneously from the upper, middle and lower part of the trapezius muscle. Sixteen patients were investigated, 10 with trapezius palsy following surgical procedures at the posterior cervical triangle, three with a history suggestive of neuralgic amyotrophy and three of unknown origin. On the unaffected side the latency increases 0.16 ms per 10 mm increase in conduction distance corresponding to a conduction velocity of 63 m/s. Evidence is presented that the upper, middle and lower part of the trapezius muscle receive innervation from the accessory nerve. Follow-up of patients showed spontaneous nerve regeneration after complete axonal degeneration. These findings suggest that surgical intervention should be delayed to allow for spontaneous reinnervation. Clinical recovery was incomplete in cases of iatrogenic origin.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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