Tomasz Drobnik and Felix Franke: who was the first in history to treat radial nerve palsy by tendon transfer?

摘要

Korteweg et al. recently answered the question "Who Was the First in History to Treat Radial Nerve Palsy by Tendon Transfer?"by naming the Polish surgeon Tomasz Drobnik in 1894. We thank the authors for their insightful review of the early history of tendon transfer, yet would like to share with the readers some objections to the conclusions drawn, which seem disputable in historical and terminological regard. As Drobnik writes in his original work, he performed a two-stage procedure in a little girl with post-poliomyelitis paralysis in her forearm and hand muscles, but preserved function of the extensor carpi radialis longus and extensor carpi radialis brevis. He first partly transferred the extensor carpi radialis longus to the extensor digitorum, with unsatisfactory outcome. Later, he continued with a partial transfer of the extensor carpi radialis brevis to the extensor pollicis longus, ultimately achieving an acceptable result.