United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I was involved in a car accident back on 20 July that fractured my C6,7, and T1, with severe nerve damage to my right brachial plexus. My neck has healed fine. I have some movement with my fingers and can twist my forearm outward and I can move my shoulder. However, my upper arm has no movement and is numb. It has been 3 months since my accident and still no improvement with my upper arm, with little improvement with my fingers. On 27 October I will have an EMG performed, and from the results the Dr will determine whether or not to operate. Can anybody share their experience with this injury? Also, the pain is very excruciating and medication does not necessarily help. How do you cope with the pain? Thank you, Fred

I'm a 51 year old and had a motorcycle accident 10/24/04. I had a crushed left clavicle, resulting in BPI injury to my left arm. The left arm/hand is paralyzed as I had a similar C8 and T1 damage. I take neurontin and elavil for the nerve pain (pain started three weeks after injury). I just had a nerve splice surgery on 9/6/05 and have yet to get any results.
Hang in there and see a specialist for the pain, and go for the surgery if possible.
By the way, the best BPI surgeon is considered to be Dr Kline at Louisiana State University in New Orleans. I originally had surgery scheduled for 10/5/05; problem is that Hurricane Katrina has caused the medical school to temporarily relocate. I have since had surgery performed at Loma Linda University Hospital in California.

Hi Galen,

You mentioned originally having surgery scheduled with Dr. Kline. I agree he is highly respected and he (literally) wrote the book on bpi that probably is still used in medical schools. Does he still work with Dr. Tiel? We'd had an appt set up with them but ended up visiting Mayo first, & just stayed on for surgery there.

How did your surgery go in California? (Did Kline still do it, but just at that location?)

Ellen

Fred, what are you presently taking for the pain? Since people respond differently to different meds, it's important for you to find an experienced pain specialist. There will probably be some trial & error to find the right "recipe" of meds & dosages for you, so try to be patient. It will get better.

Ellen

I am currently not taking any medication, but I do have a prescription for Neurontin an Tramadil. Because I was in college I did not hold any insurance for myself. The medication is very expensive and being unemployed I cannot afford to purchase either of these prescriptions. What can I do about getting medication?

Fred,
If you get surgery, the latest findings that I'm aware of state the sooner the better. I had mine at four months post injury. I don't know where you're located, but try to find the most qualified surgeon possible to check you out and preform any diagnostic studies on your injury. EMG's are good, but they can't determine if a nerve is crushed or avulsed (torn out of the spinal cord), because sometimes a crushed nerve (that might heal up or not) is unable to conduct the electrical impulse that the EMG is trying to send, so it gives it a possible false reading.

A CT Myelogram, ( http://www.hmc.psu.edu/orthopaedics/ser ... logram.htm ) for me was a much better diagnostic tool. It gave me and my Drs. the first real idea of the extent of the damage. The injected dye into the spinal cord could be seen in both the X-Rays and CT Scans pluming out of the torn nerve rootlets. Prior to this test my Drs. thought I had only one avulsed nerve and found I had three, which totally changed their ability to help me. Which they couldn't. I was soon scrambling around the country looking for the best possible help that I could find, not wanting too much time to pass to cause my muscles to atrophy beyond repair.

I tell you all of this to help you find out what to avoid. I can't imagine having to deal w/this all with out insurance. If I was younger when this had happened to me, I probably would have borrowed a buddy of mine's insurance card and birth certificate to avoid the hundreds of thousands of dollars of hospital bills that I've accumulated.

Best of luck to you. An EMG and CT Myelogram together with a MRI or better yet MR Neurography are your best bets to finding out what's going on inside you. But unfortunately the only real way is by the Doctors going in and visual confirming the damage.

Be Well,
Chris