Seven patients with typical electrophysiological features of TNTOS and 11 with nonspecific signs (NNTOS—extraspinal compression of C5-T1) were treated from 1986 to 2001. Age, duration of symptoms, and follow-up were similar in both groups. All patients underwent unilateral (14) or bilateral (4) supraclavicular decompression of the brachial plexus, for a total of 22 procedures. Clinical outcome was evaluated based on sensory and motor signs and on functional capacity. The Mann-Whitney U test and Fisher exact test were used to compare demographic data and proportions, respectively.
Improvement of pain/paresthesias, sensory loss, atrophy, and muscular weakness after surgery was similar in the two groups. Regarding functional capacity, 57.1 % of patients with TNTOS and 63.6 % of patients with NNTOS became normal or reacquired their previous condition with slight limitation. Surgery-related complications were paresthesias and paresis in the arm, sympathetic dystrophy, pneumothorax, and lymphatic collections, all in patients with NNTOS.
Patients with NNTOS with electrophysiological signs of extraspinal radicular impairment had the same chances of improvement after surgical treatment as patients with TNTOS.