ESSAY : Brachial Plexus Injury

This week, there will be a variety of conditions pertaining to musculoskeletal, hematologic, and oncologic conditions. You are expected to present your topic Brachial Plexus Injury including, but not limited to, the following items:

Pathophysiology
Epidemiology
Physical exam findings
Differential diagnoses and rationale
Management plan to include diagnostic testing, medications if applicable, follow-up plans and referrals if needed

References must be current (2013-2017) and if journals are used, please include the doi number. Please do not use medscape or any other peer reviewed website.

SAMPLE SOLUTION

Brachial Plexus Injury

Pathophysiology

Studies show that many of the causes of brachial plexus injury eventually lead to a termination of nerve function. This may arise by:

• Metabolic factors which may upset internal metabolic transport mechanisms within the axon, triggering disruption of electrical conductivity
• Physical cutoff of axons, as with penetrating wounds
• Extrinsic firmness of the nerve strands by metastatic tumors, primary tumors, or limb positioning, or by first rib or cervical rib anomalies.

The work of brachial plexus’ somatic nerves is to subserve skin sensibility and voluntary movement. As such, brachial plexus injury tends to interfere with these functions. Given the involvement of sympathetic nerve, other vascular variations are anticipated, but such changes are generally trivial in presentation as well as outcome. In most cases, the recommended constructive surgeries focus on somatic discontinuity of nerves after direct trauma. However, surgical management plan may also come in handy where severe…