Brachial Plexus Injury

Adult post-traumatic Brachial plexus injury is unfortunately a rather common injury in young adults.

In India the most common scenario is of a young man injured in a motorcycle accident. Exact incidence figures are not available but of the injuries presenting to us about 90% involve the above combination. Potentially this can lead to unemployment, economic hardship, depression and in rare instances even suicidal urges. The typical patient is a young male who has had an accident while riding a two wheeler where he has been thrown off the vehicle and suffered traction between neck and shoulder, damaging his plexus to varying degrees.

It is therefore vital that this very valuable segment of our population is functionally restored as early as possible to the best of our ability. With modern techniques in hand and microsurgery, this is very much feasible provided the patient is treated in time. There are techniques available for late referrals too, but early commencement of treatment makes a huge difference to the eventual outcome.