Brachial plexus injuries: an integrated treatment concept.

An integrated concept is presented for the treatment of lesions of the brachial plexus. In such patients, nerve repair is useless as a single method of therapy. Only the combination of nerve repair with both conventional and new methods of muscle and tendon transfer, including the free muscle transplant innervated by vascularized nerve grafts, can give the patient functional use of the paralyzed arm.