Brachial plexus injury

Brachial plexus injury

The brachial plexus is a network of nerves that conducts signals from the spine to the shoulder, arm and hand. Brachial plexus injuries are caused by damage to those nerves. Symptoms may include a limp or paralyzed arm, lack of muscle control in the arm, hand, or wrist, and lack of feeling or sensation in the arm or hand. Although injuries can occur at any time, many brachial plexus injuries happen during birth: the baby's shoulders may become impacted during the birth process causing the brachial plexus nerves to stretch or tear. There are several different classification systems for grading the severity of peripheral nerve and brachial plexus injuries. The most common system divides nerve injuries into five degrees (described by Sir Sydney Sunderland): first degree or neurapraxia, in which the insulation around the nerve called myelin is damaged but the nerve itself is spared, and second through fifth degree, which denotes increasing severity of injury. With fifth degree injuries, the nerve is completely divided. Although several mechanisms account for brachial plexus injuries, the most common is nerve compression or stretch. Infants, in particular, may suffer brachial plexus injuries during delivery and these present with typical patterns of weakness, depending on which portion of the brachial plexus is involved. The most severe form of injury is nerve root avulsion, which results in complete weakness in corresponding muscles. This usually accompanies high-velocity impacts that occurs during motor vehicle or bicycle accidents.

Treatment

Some brachial plexus injuries may heal without treatment. Many children improve or recover by 3 to 4 months of age. Treatment for brachial plexus injuries includes occupational or physical therapy and, in some cases, surgery.

Prognosis

The site and type of brachial plexus injury determine the prognosis. For avulsion and rupture injuries there is no potential for recovery unless surgical reconnection is made in a timely manner. For neuroma and neuropraxia injuries the potential for recovery varies. Most patients with neuropraxia injuries recover spontaneously with a 90-100% return of function.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Brachial plexus lesion — Infobox Disease Name = PAGENAME Caption = DiseasesDB = 31267 ICD10 = ICD10|G|54|0|g|50, ICD10|P|14|3|p|10, ICD10|S|14|3|s|10 ICD9 = ICD9|353.0, ICD9|767.6, ICD9|953.4 ICDO = OMIM = MedlinePlus = eMedicineSubj = eMedicineTopic = MeshID = D020516… …   Wikipedia

  • Anesthesia of the brachial plexus — The fact that the nerves of the brachial plexus are grouped together acts as a benefit as well. Local anesthetics such as lidocaine or bupivacaine can be injected in close proximity to these nerves, rendering an entire arm insensate and immobile …   Wikipedia

  • plexus — A network or interjoining of nerves and blood vessel s or of lymphatic vessels. [L. a braid] abdominal aortic (nervous) p. [TA] an autonomic p. surrounding the abdominal aorta, directly continuous with the thoracic aortic p. superiorly and …   Medical dictionary

  • injury — The damage or wound of trauma. [L. injuria, fr. in neg. + jus (jur ), right] blast i. tearing of lung tissue or rupture of any tissue or organ without external i., as by the force of an …   Medical dictionary

  • Spinal cord injury — Spinal cord injuries Classification and external resources View of the vertebral column and spinal cord ICD 10 G …   Wikipedia

  • Traumatic brain injury — See also: Brain injury (disambiguation) Traumatic brain injury Classification and external resources …   Wikipedia

  • Diffuse axonal injury — Classification and external resources Susceptibility weighted image (SWI) of diffuse axonal injury in trauma at 1.5 teslas (right) eMedicine …   Wikipedia

  • Complications of traumatic brain injury — Traumatic brain injury (TBI, physical trauma to the brain) can cause a variety of complications, health effects that are not TBI themselves but that result from it. The risk of complications increases with the severity of the trauma;[1] however… …   Wikipedia

  • Nerve injury — Classification and external resources Micrograph of a nerve with a decrease in myelinated nerve fibres (pink) and an abnormal increase in fibrous tissue (yellow), as may be seen in nerve injuries. HPS stain …   Wikipedia

  • Peripheral nerve injury classification — Classification of peripheral nerve injury assists in prognosis and determination of treatment strategy. Classification of nerve injury was described by Seddon in 1943 and by Sunderland in 1951.[1] The lowest degree of nerve injury in which the… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”