Nerve transfer procedure helps patients recover movement in hands and extremities

San Diego based neurosurgeon, Dr. Justin M. Brown, M.D., Director of the Neurosurgery Peripheral Nerve Program at UCSD School of Medicine, has implemented a procedure that helps patients recover movement in their hands and extremities after spinal cord and brain injuries, strokes, and other forms of paralysis.

Dr. Brown specializes in repairing nerve damage and restoring function after nerve trauma of the upper and lower extremities and is a pioneer in a surgical technique referred to as a "nerve transfer." This procedure has been very successful in the treatment of many kinds of nerve injuries and has been found to provide faster and more robust functional results in many situations as opposed to typical nerve repair.  In this groundbreaking procedure healthy nerves from other parts of the body are "rewired" to restore function and movement to damaged areas. Dr. Brown is one of a handful of surgeons worldwide who have successfully applied this technique to patients with spinal cord injury and brain injury.

"Very important work continues to evolve with stem cell research, but unfortunately this remains a long way from clinical application.  Nerve transfers are a well studied technique and today add a new level of function to those who would otherwise not be able to care for themselves," explains Dr. Justin M. Brown, M.D.