United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi all, Ashley just had her yearly appointment with her surgical team. She is now almost 12 years old and starting to develop. I had thought she may have scoliosis because her body looks twisted and you can only see her development on one side. Her surgeons feel she does not have scoliosis, that she has some glenohumerol deformity , and is extremely internally rotated. They would like her to have the Humeral Osteotomy , explained to her why and how she would benefit . The only negative part would be she scars badly with keloid scars. So would add one more frightening scar to arm for a total of 3. One on the fore arm, one under the arm pit coming up the shoulder and now one mid upper arm.

My questions are, how will this make her shoulder look from behind, what kind of recovery and splint is worn? What about Piano, will she still be able to play?

Any information at all is greatly appreciate, ty.

Lenni

Hi Lenni, you have to tell the doctor that she plays piano, so when they rotate the arm they'll try to give her as much possibility to play as possible. You need to tell the doctor up front about all of her activities and which ones are real priorities. Some may be possible and some might not be possible. Also some doctors leave pins and metal in the arm permanently and some doctors remove it, so that's another question to ask. Some doctor do the incision in the front and some do it where it can't be seen. Some have a aplint and some cast. If she has keloided I am wondering if she might be allergic to the suture material used? That's another good question - you can read the surgery reports she had before and find out and talk to your doctor about trying a different method - maybe gluing? Another question to ask is where exactly will the fracture be made.
Feel free to email me at franlitz@gmail.com. I was considering this for Maia and can talk about this semi-intelligently. -francine

Lenni:

My son had this done when he was two. I would be glad to share any info. Please feel free to email me with any questions that you may have.

Ashley, mom to Brayden 4yrs old