Abstract
We report the case of a child with cerebral palsy and spastic diplegia treated for bilateral fixed flexion of the knee by bilateral hamstring lengthening. An attempt to straighten the legs from 90° to 20° flexion damaged the sciatic nerve. There are no objective means of estimating how much deformity can be reduced safely. We present a method of calculating the extra strain in the sciatic nerve produced by reducing a flexion deformity. The result, combined with clinical judgement, provides guidelines for safe corrective surgery.
| Original language | English |
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| Pages (from-to) | 471-473 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery - British Volume |
| Volume | 76 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Publication status | Published - 1994 |