United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

My name is Joll, I would like to know if anyone could answer this question.
If a shoulder is dislocated and not in a sling, I was on a ambulance stretcher and when I arrived at the hospital the attendent asked if I could get off their stretcher and on to the hospital gurney. as I went to get off, I kind of hopped off and let go of my dislocated arm , and when I did my arm dropped like dead weight, causing great pain and then went numb. total nerve loss was stated in the record .I was wondering if this has happened to anyone on the boards or similar. befor this happened I still could feel and move my hand and arm. Thanks, Jill

When did this happen? Have you been feeling anything back after the accident? Have yo had an EMG? Are you seeing a Doctor for this?

Did your dislocated shoulder get put back in while you were there? Did the attending doctor say anything about the sudden numbness and pain?
I agree with Susana, you should try and see a trauma bpi doctor as soon as possible.
Let us know how things go.
Jen NZ

they got my arm back in place after four trys; I lost all feelinng and movement from the top of my shoulder to my hand. after two years I got function all the way to above my wrist but my hand was totally paralized. after three emg's they did a tendon transfer on my hand. it is weak, but I can curl my fingers and lift light objects.
This is in litigation and I and my doctor say that when my arm fell, that caused my bpi. what do you think ? Jill

I was injured in a pedestrian vs. bus accident in Sept., 2001, and have no memories of the first 12 hours or so after the collision. However, both my husband and a nurse saw me move my fingers/hand when asked to do so in the ER.
After being transported from Hilo to Oahu by plane and ambulance, though, I could no longer move my hand or arm at all. MRIs, etc., done when I returned home (North Carolina) 7 weeks later established that C4 was damaged and C5 thru T1 were avulsed.
I have wondered ever since if I had been moved more carefully, might I still have a functional arm.

thanks for the info, was your arm dislocated?, did you see a lawyer? did you recover? if so , how? thanks jill

Hi, I have a complete right BPI from a snowmobile accident. Why would you see a lawyer about this? Who would you sue? It's a bit strange that the loss of feeling came after your arm dropped. From what I can understand from talking to doctors to get a BPI you need a great force in order to damage the nerves long term. Also my father is a physiotherapist and deals with a lot of shoulder dislocations and he has never heard a complete BPI resulting from a dislocation. Having said that strange things do happen, is it possible that you did this damage when the accident happened and was in so much shock that you didn’t notice the loss of feeling? What was the accident that resulted in the dislocation?

My arm was/is subluxed, I don't know how that differs from dislocation. And no, it never recovered.
I did hire a lawyer, even though the bus company accepted responsibility for my injuries from the very beginning. The matter was always between me and the insurance companies who carried their liability coverage: How much is an arm, plus the pain and suffering worth? (I've been told the insurance industry actually has a book that lists the value of an arm or leg, loss of a child, etc., etc. I think it's disgusting.)
FYI...In case anyone is interested,lawyers in Hawaii take 30% plus the costs of developing the case(like hiring a private detective to find out if the bus had been regularly serviced, phone calls and video conferences between Hawaii and NC etc.). If the case goes to trial, the lawyers take 40%.
One thing I didn't know until the case was nearly over is that a person can fire their lawyer and hire another one without paying more. The lawyers have to split the 30%.
And finally, one thing that shocked me was that in spite of having medical insurance, my insurer covered the bills up front, but I was expected to pay back the whole amount when the case was settled!
What actually happens, though,is that one's lawyer negotiate with your medical insurance company to get them to accept something less than the full amount. In my case I ended up paying 2/3rds of the total and they paid 1/3.
Oh, last thing...my case was settled out of court, it took 2 1/2 years and I was told that that was fast.
I apologize for getting so far off topic, guess I should have submitted this as a separate topic.
Sandy

One of the first ever descriptions of a tbpi in medical literature was one that had been caused by relocating a dislocated shoulder (I think the correct term is reducing). That case also happened following several tries to relocate it. The bpi nerves are very vulnerable to that kind of injury, and there's a lot more chance that the injury happened then than when your arm dropped.

I'll try and find the paper title about the tbpi following dislocation for you....and be careful what you say on here if you do intend to sue....lawyers representing doctors do read these boards.
Jen NZ

Thanks for filling me in on that Jen. Is it what the doctor does that causes the nerves to be damaged? Or is it the way the arm had been twisted when the arm had been dislocated? Do you think that the nerves could be repaired more easily than other BPI's? Sorry about all the question's but this topic really interests me. The other thing is I don’t think the lawyers should take all that money for something that they don’t have to live with there whole life. There should be a lower cap on that I think.

Andrew