I have been finding more information about obpi than i have about tbpi. As far as surgeries and doctors are concerned, are there different ones for each?? Thank you!
~Courtney
tbpi different from obpi??
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cbe411
- Posts: 1393
- Joined: Sun Jun 01, 2003 8:27 pm
- Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: MVA in 2001, nerve graph in 2002, Median Nerve Transfer in 2004 and an unsuccessful Gracillis Muscle Transfer in 2006. I am living life and loving it! Feel free to contact me :)
- Location: Grosse Pointe Woods, MI
- Contact:
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cbe411
- Posts: 1393
- Joined: Sun Jun 01, 2003 8:27 pm
- Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: MVA in 2001, nerve graph in 2002, Median Nerve Transfer in 2004 and an unsuccessful Gracillis Muscle Transfer in 2006. I am living life and loving it! Feel free to contact me :)
- Location: Grosse Pointe Woods, MI
- Contact:
Re: tbpi different from obpi??
I guess I mean are there different doctors that work with obpi and tbpi or can any bpi see any bpi doctor?? Thank you a bunch!
~Courtney
~Courtney
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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: tbpi different from obpi??
Hi Courtney! Yes, tbpi and obpi are very different, mainly because tbpi tend to be high velocity injuries and the avulsions etc are often far more severe-nerves torn out of the spine completely so that flesh is actually missing (a 'true' avulsion) cannot be regrafted very easily if at all, this means a flail non working arm and hand is much more common in tbpi. The length of our arms makes it less likely that nerve grafts will ever reach our fingers and far more of us have whole plexus avulsion involvement. Younger tbpi have better outcomes, adults generally do not do as well as children in the nerve healing. The surgery protocols are different too, tbpi are usually operated on within weeks rather than months, in the UK they try and do it within days or even hours of the accident if possible.
A major part of rehabilitation in tbpi is the pain, most of us find we can bear it after about 2 years but some are completely crippled by it, we have a guy whose wife posts on the uk board who is 7 yrs post accident and still in agony to the extent where he frequently passes out and is mainly bedridden. You really don't want a doctor who isn't very experienced with tbpi messing around with that pain, some of the treatments I've seen proposed by obpi docs or others not used to treating tbpi pain have been useless at best, potentially quite harmful at worst.
The surgeon with most tbpi experience in the USA is probably Dr Kline from Louisiana who has been treating tbpi since the 60's. He has published quite a lot of articles. Some others do have some experience, if it was me I would want to see someone whose main interest was tbpi even if they also saw obpi, not the other way around. If you do see an obpi specialist, check out his or her knowledge on tbpi. I think some of them are happy to take on patients assuming they are similar to obpi when they actually have very limited knowledge in this area and it's a worry-parents of injured babies do not take them to a tbpi specialist! Some docs such as Simon Kay in the UK are very experienced in both tbpi and obpi.
There is quite a lot of info out there on tbpi, but it's mainly published in Europe from what I can see, where most bpi surgery was started and where tbpi research seems most prolific . If anyone knows of any other places where tbpi research is ongoing, please let me know! China is another place where tbpi are very numerous and they have invented a lot of bpi surgeries, I think one of the US docs recently went there fact finding, was it Kozin? There is a group of bpi specialists in the states who meet to share discoveries and knowledge, and run a syposium to teach surgical techniques. Dr Waters of Boston is involved with this group, so may have tbpi knowledge as well as obpi. Maybe one day they will all share their work in this way, then we would have a much better idea of who can do what, and THEY would have a better idea about tbpi. If you have any specific questions about articles I can probably find something for you, I have a huge archive of material on tbpi which will in the future be linked to the tbpi UK site. That site was started because of the lack of info about tbpi on the internet, things haven't changed much altho they are improving:0)
Good luck in your search Courtney :0)
A major part of rehabilitation in tbpi is the pain, most of us find we can bear it after about 2 years but some are completely crippled by it, we have a guy whose wife posts on the uk board who is 7 yrs post accident and still in agony to the extent where he frequently passes out and is mainly bedridden. You really don't want a doctor who isn't very experienced with tbpi messing around with that pain, some of the treatments I've seen proposed by obpi docs or others not used to treating tbpi pain have been useless at best, potentially quite harmful at worst.
The surgeon with most tbpi experience in the USA is probably Dr Kline from Louisiana who has been treating tbpi since the 60's. He has published quite a lot of articles. Some others do have some experience, if it was me I would want to see someone whose main interest was tbpi even if they also saw obpi, not the other way around. If you do see an obpi specialist, check out his or her knowledge on tbpi. I think some of them are happy to take on patients assuming they are similar to obpi when they actually have very limited knowledge in this area and it's a worry-parents of injured babies do not take them to a tbpi specialist! Some docs such as Simon Kay in the UK are very experienced in both tbpi and obpi.
There is quite a lot of info out there on tbpi, but it's mainly published in Europe from what I can see, where most bpi surgery was started and where tbpi research seems most prolific . If anyone knows of any other places where tbpi research is ongoing, please let me know! China is another place where tbpi are very numerous and they have invented a lot of bpi surgeries, I think one of the US docs recently went there fact finding, was it Kozin? There is a group of bpi specialists in the states who meet to share discoveries and knowledge, and run a syposium to teach surgical techniques. Dr Waters of Boston is involved with this group, so may have tbpi knowledge as well as obpi. Maybe one day they will all share their work in this way, then we would have a much better idea of who can do what, and THEY would have a better idea about tbpi. If you have any specific questions about articles I can probably find something for you, I have a huge archive of material on tbpi which will in the future be linked to the tbpi UK site. That site was started because of the lack of info about tbpi on the internet, things haven't changed much altho they are improving:0)
Good luck in your search Courtney :0)
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cbe411
- Posts: 1393
- Joined: Sun Jun 01, 2003 8:27 pm
- Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: MVA in 2001, nerve graph in 2002, Median Nerve Transfer in 2004 and an unsuccessful Gracillis Muscle Transfer in 2006. I am living life and loving it! Feel free to contact me :)
- Location: Grosse Pointe Woods, MI
- Contact:
Re: tbpi different from obpi??
Thanks a bunch Jenny! I have found that there is little about tbpi and more with the obpi, which was howe i found this site, and thankful that i have!! I have heard about Dr. Klein on the boards and have been talking with my parents about going to see him. I already travel from MI ti KY, whats a few more states right?? hahah Well thank you for the information! I appreciate it!!
~Courtney
~Courtney
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Kathleen M
Medical Directory/Medical Panel Camp UBPN
Courtney
We have a medical directory on this site have you checked it out?
http://ubpn.org/medicalresources/
I will post this on your other post FYI
Both Dr. Maniker and Dr.Belzberg have accepted our invitation to be part of our Camp UBPN Medical Panel.
Here is a link to Dr.A.Maniker information
http://www.umdnj.edu/nsurgweb/peripheralnerve.dwt
Here is a link to Dr.A Belzber
http://www.neuro.jhmi.edu/profiles/belzberg.html
Hope this helps... maybe you should consider attending camp this year to not only meet other bpi injured but also to attend the medical panel presentation. The physicians attending are leaders both in the tbpi/community and obpi/community we will have four widely respected members of the medical community.
This is the camp information on our Medical Panel along with links to their respective hospitals and information on each doctor.
http://ubpn.org/messageboard/thread ... hread=5920
Camp will be attended by both obpi/tbpi adults.
UBPN will provide a place for adults to gather and share information in a meeting room for adults who are bpi injured.
Kathleen Mallozzi
In Touch Chairperson
UBPN Board of Directors
We have a medical directory on this site have you checked it out?
http://ubpn.org/medicalresources/
I will post this on your other post FYI
Both Dr. Maniker and Dr.Belzberg have accepted our invitation to be part of our Camp UBPN Medical Panel.
Here is a link to Dr.A.Maniker information
http://www.umdnj.edu/nsurgweb/peripheralnerve.dwt
Here is a link to Dr.A Belzber
http://www.neuro.jhmi.edu/profiles/belzberg.html
Hope this helps... maybe you should consider attending camp this year to not only meet other bpi injured but also to attend the medical panel presentation. The physicians attending are leaders both in the tbpi/community and obpi/community we will have four widely respected members of the medical community.
This is the camp information on our Medical Panel along with links to their respective hospitals and information on each doctor.
http://ubpn.org/messageboard/thread ... hread=5920
Camp will be attended by both obpi/tbpi adults.
UBPN will provide a place for adults to gather and share information in a meeting room for adults who are bpi injured.
Kathleen Mallozzi
In Touch Chairperson
UBPN Board of Directors