STUDY OF BRACHIAL PLEXUS INJURY

Introduction The introduction of novel distal nerve transfers has changed the way in which brachial plexus surgery is being performed. Although full recovery of function after brachial plexus reconstruction still remains unachievable, the exciting developments of the past several years have considerably improved surgical outcomes, and future directions for research are promising. Aim And Ojective To review incidence, mechanics, various patterns, treatment regimes, outcome and morbidity factors of various types of Brachial plexus injury and various circumstances which led to Brachial plexus injury in our department. Material And Methods This study is prospective study and 24 patients with adult brachial plexus injury admitted during the period from 2014 to 2017 are included in this study. Patients with adult brachial plexus injury, initially treated elsewhere and referred to our department are also included in the study. Paediatric brachial plexus injury obstetric brachial plexus palsy are not included in this study Results In this study brachial plexus injury injuries are more common in male (90%) compared to female ( 20%), more in age group of 20-30 years( 54%), road trafc accident is the most common mode of injury ( 79.16%), maximum number of patients presented between 3 to 6 months of injury(50%), 75% patients had preganglionic injury and supraclavicular injury(95.8%) ,more common in right side(62.5%), upper and middle trunk mostly involved( 90% and 83.3% respectively). 79.16% patients were operated with anterior approach. Neurotization with spinal accessory nerve (SAN) to suprascapular nerve (SSN) done in 95% patients out of 24 patients through posterior approach. Neurotization with phrenic to musculocutaneous nerve (MC) and intercostal nerve (ICN) to musculocutaneous nerve through anterior approach in 79% and 21% patients respectively. Conclusion This study gives an insight into the epidemiological aspects of brachial plexus injuries in our unit which reects the situation in India and also about the few parameters of quality of life following brachial plexus injuries.