What Types of Brachial Plexus Surgery Are Possible?
A diagnosis of brachial plexus injury is made using tests such as CT scans, MRIs or nerve conduction testing. Mild brachial plexus injury will often heal spontaneously. In case the brachial plexus injury is related to some other injury, inflammation or growth, the brachial plexus treatment will first address the underlying cause of the injury. If the nerves of the brachial plexus are severed entirely, then it may be a permanent damage. In adults the injured nerves often benefit from the repair, either scar removal or direct nerve repair or a combination of these techniques. Nerve repair can also be done with nerve grafting, nerve transfer or a combination of these treatments. Brachial plexus injury treatment or brachial plexus surgery will help improve the function and growth of the arms, as well as the shoulder and neck area.
The types of brachial plexus injury repair are:
The types of brachial plexus injury repair are:
- Nerve graft: in this procedure, the damaged part of the brachial plexus is removed and replaced with sections of nerves cut from other parts of the body.
- Nerve transfer: when the nerve root has been torn from the spinal cord, surgeons often make use of a less important nerve that is attached to the spinal cord and hooks it into the nerve that is no longer attached.
- Because of the risk of muscle atrophy, reconstructive surgery to repair the nerves should ideally occur within three to six months after the injury. The success rate is highly affected if you postpone the surgery to one year after the injury.
- Muscle transfer: this procedure is recommended if the muscles of your arms deteriorate. The surgeon makes use of less important muscles from another part of the body and transfers it to the arm.
- Pain control: the pain that you experience from brachial plexus injury has been described as a crushing sensation or constant burning. Antidepressant and anticonvulsant medications are used during the surgery to keep the pain in control.
- Physical therapy.
- Treatment of the underlying condition.
Erb’s palsy treatment provided for children with Erb’s palsy first entails providing the patient’s parents with a home program of PROM (passive range of motion) sheets consisting of 2-3 daily exercises with 10 repetitions of all the motions. Erb’s palsy is an upper brachial plexus injury of the nerve. Some of the Erb’s palsy patients have no muscle control or feeling in the arm or hand.
Thus there are various brachial plexus surgery options, and you are ensured an effective surgery and positive results when the surgery is provided by a professional plastic surgeon.
4/17/2013 9:53:53 AM
Written by plasticsurgeryh
Houston Plastic and Craniofacial Surgery, the office of Dr. Sean Boutros, is dedicated to understand all your concerns and responding with the best treatment options. Whether you, or your child require aesthetic or reconstructive surgery, Dr. Boutros' goal is to provide excellence in treatment along with compassion of ca...
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