Function of the upper limb after surgery for obstetric brachial plexus palsy

Function of the upper limb after surgery for obstetric brachial plexus palsy.

We reviewed a consecutive series of 33 infants who underwent surgery for obstetric brachial plexus palsy at a mean age of 4.7 months. Of these, 13 with an upper palsy and 20 with a total palsy were treated by nerve reconstruction. Ten were treated by muscle transfer to the shoulder or elbow, and 16 by tendon transfer to the hand. The mean postoperative follow-up was 4 years 8 months. Ten of the...

Evidence of the Effectiveness of Primary Brachial Plexus Surgery in Infants With Obstetric Brachial Plexus Palsy–Revisited

A recent systematic review questioned the effectiveness of primary surgery in infants with obstetric brachial plexus palsy. At our center, the indication for primary surgery in infants with upper Erb's obstetric palsy is the lack of active elbow flexion at age 4 months. The current study compares the outcome of motor recovery in 2 groups of infants with upper Erb's palsy: one group (n = 9) trea...

Surgical Management of Obstetric Brachial Plexus Palsy Secondary Deformities

Repair of obstetric brachial plexus palsy: results in 100 children.

This is a prospective study of 107 repairs of obstetric brachial plexus palsy carried out between January 1990 and December 1999. The results in 100 children are presented. In partial lesions operation was advised when paralysis of abduction of the shoulder and of flexion of the elbow persisted after the age of three months and neurophysiological investigations predicted a poor prognosis. Opera...

Obstetric Brachial Plexus Palsy: The Mallet Grading System for Shoulder Function—Revisited

The Mallet grading system is a commonly used functional scoring system to assess shoulder abduction/external rotation deficits in children with obstetric brachial plexus palsy. One feature of the Mallet score is that each grade is translated into certain degrees of deficiencies in both shoulder abduction and external rotation. The aim of the current study is to investigate the percentage of chi...