Using the anterior branch of the medial antebrachial cutaneous nerve,
grafting was performed on twenty-one digital nerves. The goal of the
procedure was to repair a traumatic defect of greater than one centimeter
in the digital nerves of fourteen patients. The patients were followed for
twenty-four to eighty-nine months (average, fifty-seven months). All but
one nerve graft restored the ability to distinguish between sharp and dull
stimuli, and all but three restored two-point discrimination of between
five and fifteen millimeters (average, nine millimeters). No painful
neuromas developed at the donor site.