Tendon Transfers

Overview

The Mass General Paralysis Center uses tendon transfers as an option to treat nerve injuries. This procedure is performed by removing one end of a functional muscle from its tendinous insertion into a bone and connecting it to a different bone or tendon.

These procedures can be used to treat a nerve injury that limit mobility in a patient’s wrist and fingers. Such injuries can include radial, ulnar and median nerve injuries. Tendon transfers also have an important role in addressing foot drop and shoulder paralysis.

One of the biggest benefits of tendon transfers is that there is no time limitation between injury to treatment, unlike nerve transfers which typically need to be done within a year of the initial injury. Additionally, once the procedure is successfully performed, improvement is seen almost immediately.

The Mass General Paralysis Center is a multidisciplinary center featuring physicians and surgeons from a variety of service lines including Neurosurgery, Neurology, Radiology, Orthopaedics, Plastic Surgery and more. Our doctors work together to determine a treatment option that can address each patient’s unique situation. The Paralysis Center opened in 2018 and is led by Justin Brown, MD.