United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Does anyone on this board have a winged scapula? Also, does any one have a positional dislocated shoulder? Is BPI same as long thoracic nerve injury. My 14 year old has all of the above when he was hit by a car. One more question. Has anyone heard of Dr.Oulette at the university of Miami, or know of a specialist in the south florida area? it seems like the families have never ending questions and the dr. dont seem like they know much either. Some one e mailed me awhile back about a dr. from childrens hospital in miami but I lost their email address if you read this please send it to me because I would love to talk thank you

hi denise, sorry to hear about your son. I'm currently looking into TOS and i'll post when i know more about it, winging scapula is often seen with bpi's, take care if u decide to correct it surgically, see my recent post on the 'roll call' post. I see someone on the general board already gave you the address for Dr Grossman at Miama, hope you get some help :0)

Hi Denise
Is winged scapula where the arm sticks out at a funny angle at the side?
If so I had it, and it was resolved by having a rotational osteotomy. This involved sawing my upper arm in half rotating lower half by 55 degrees and plating them together. I know is sounds grusome but I was back home 2 days after the op and back to work within 4 weeks. That was 15 years ago and it really worked for me.
However I was 34 at the time, I don't know if your son being 14 and still growing would have any effect on an op now.
Good Luck
Phil
Ticknall, England

Hi Phil,

I think a winging scapula is caused from nerve damage to the nerve that innervates the muscles holding the scapula (shoulder blade) firmly against the rib cage. After an injury those muscles relax and causes the scapula to be released (somewhat) from the ribs, and causes it to stick out farther than the unaffected side. It is markedly noticeable when you look at both sides in a mirror and moving at the same time. Some cases are more noticeable than others, but I bet that most who suffer a bpi have some degree of damage to that nerve. As far as pain goes, I have very little from my scapula. Most of the time the only pain I have is when my back is against a flat surface and I move my arm. Because it sticks out further it rubs against anything it touches. Cosmetically it is not too appealing. But personally I wouldn't risk surgery to attempt to correct it. It might be a different story though if it was causing a lot of pain.

By the way.....my arm sticks out at the side too. It's more comfortable in that position. I find I am constantly using a small pillow to stick between my arm and my side. And when I try to pull my arm in towards my body I still hear and feel a lot of crunching. Arthritis maybe ????

George

I am so glad that worked for you. Thank goodness my son does not have alot of pain. He does have days where he is uncomfortable but for the most part he is lucky compared to quite a few others I have read about.

Your symptoms sound just like my sons. He was just diagnosed after seeing approx.4 different ortho dr. with a anterior positional dislocation, along with winging of the scapula. He also is more comfortable holding his arm out and hears cracking sounds. Sometimes he is unable to move it all. They think he may have some cervical problems also. I agree with you surgery last resort and basically he is not in alot of pain biggest problem is being 14 and not being able to do sports and other kid things. Always worried he is going to do further damage.

Your symptoms sound just like my sons. He was just diagnosed after seeing approx.4 different ortho dr. with a anterior positional dislocation, along with winging of the scapula. He also is more comfortable holding his arm out and hears cracking sounds. Sometimes he is unable to move it all. They think he may have some cervical problems also. I agree with you surgery last resort and basically he is not in alot of pain biggest problem is being 14 and not being able to do sports and other kid things. Always worried he is going to do further damage.

Your symptoms sound exactly like my sons he is more comfortable with his arm out and it does alot of clicking sounds. He was just diagnosed with positional anterior shoulder dislocation along with winged scapula it took 4 orthos to discover the dislocaton.

hi, i am so grateful to have finally found people who are in a position similar to mine and are able to talk about it. i have "winging scapula" and it is caused by a cut "spinal accessory nerve". I f you wiuld like to talk about this i am only to happy to share thoughts.

hello

i had scapula winging for 2 years and was in pain and agony....i saw the best orthpods in miami and best neurologists at Univeristy of Miami and I knew more then them....your best bet is to speak with Dr. Jon Jp Warner, M.D. at Massachussetss General/Harvard Shoulder service....in my opinion he is the best Doctor with the most Knowledge on the subject...I had a dynamic Muscle Transfer done and I am Well Today Thank GOD! South Florida is made of Community Doctors that arent experts and cutting edge technology...The Doctor I Saw Was the Top Leading Expert in the World as far as i was concerned.....If i Was you i would get of florida.....they dont know about this diabling condition...if you like you can e-mail me i would be happy to speak with you about my experiences....also i live in florida so i know about it