brachial plexus injury

Treatments, Rehabilitation, and Recovery
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admin
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brachial plexus injury

Post by admin »

My husband had a bad accident when a tree feel on him. He has a C-6 nerve damage and brachial plexus injury. The tip of his thumb is extremely dry and turning yellow. Most of his left hand and arm are yellow. What does this mean? Would a steroid shot help build his shoulder muscle and help keep his arm in place? Any information would be helpful.
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Christopher
Posts: 845
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2003 10:09 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Date of Injury: 12/15/02

Level of Injury:
-dominant side C5, C6, & C7 avulsed. C8 & T1 stretched & crushed

BPI Related Surgeries:
-2 Intercostal nerves grafted to Biceps muscle,
-Free-Gracilis muscle transfer to Biceps Region innervated with 2 Intercostal nerves grafts.
-2 Sural nerves harvested from both Calves for nerve grafting.
-Partial Ulnar nerve grafted to Long Triceps.
-Uninjured C7 Hemi-Contralateral cross-over to Deltoid muscle.
-Wrist flexor tendon transfer to middle, ring, & pinky finger extensors.

Surgical medical facility:
Brachial Plexus Clinic at The Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN
(all surgeries successful)

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
~Theodore Roosevelt
Location: Los Angeles, California USA

Re: brachial plexus injury

Post by Christopher »

How long ago was his injury, and what is the level of injury to C6? Is it known to be avulsed or not?

Chris J.
jennyb
Posts: 1183
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2001 5:24 pm
Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: January 1980 Yamaha RD200 vs 16 wheeler truck, result, 1 totally paralysed right arm. I was 21, now 54. I had no surgery, I don't regret this. Decided to totally ignore limitations (easily done aged 21) adapted very quickly to one handed life, got married, had 3 kids, worked- the effect of the injury on my life (once the pain stopped being constant) was minimal and now, aged 54, I very rarely even think of it, unless I bash it or it gets cold, then I wish I'd had it amputated :) Except for a steering knob on my car, I have no adaptations to help with life, mainly because I honestly don't think of myself as disabled and the only thing I can't do is peel potatoes, which is definitely a good thing.

Re: brachial plexus injury

Post by jennyb »

He needs to see a tbpi specialist asap. My arm and hand went bright yellow after my accident and also grew massively, it looked like Arnie Schwartzenegger's arm! I was told it was as a result of massive internal bruising (I had 6 breaks in the arm) and it went down and the colour faded within a couple of weeks. Don't know how long ago your husbands accident was so this may not be the same thing. A specialist will be able to give you a better idea of the extent of the nerve damage and treatment options. Upper plexus injuries like this usually have a much better chance of recovery than lower plexus injuries, check your options. I have never heard of steroid injections to help muscle bulk in tbpi, and altho they are often offered for pain relief I have not yet spoken to anyone who got any pain relief from such an injection. Be careful, some steroids are neurotoxic.
btw, check the Roll Call post, this is the third tree injury I've heard of!
Good luck in your search for info:0) Jen NZ
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