United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hello,
We are two weeks away from my son's bicept lengthening procedure and my nerves are beginning to set in. He has had mod quad and primary and now is three and half.He has pretty good function but can not extend his arm. We have tried splints but no success as he has no triceps. Has anyone had this surgery and at what age? We have been told that their would be no lost function only gain. Also, now at three and half it is more difficult to go through as my son is aware of doctors, hospitals, shots, etc. I have been prepping him and so has his OT and PT therapists. He tells me he is ok with it as long as he gets a big dinosaur. So, I have been searching toy shops for a big dinosaur. We are going to TCH on 11/26 for this.

Hello,

My son (age seven) had biceps lengthening surgery in June of this year. We were extremely pleased with the surgery results, my only regret is not doing it earlier (a year and a half ago) when the doctor first suggested it. Because we waited (I wanted to see if we could resolve the contracture through aggressive therapy, which did not work, the contracture became much more pronounced as time went by) we were unable to acheive full extension even with the surgery. However, we have only a few degrees left to gain, and are optimistic that it will happen through continued therapy and serial splinting.

My son immediately noticed the difference in his arm "length" and appearance, and my happiness is reflected in his delight.

My son also had both primary (nine months old) and mod quad (three years old) surgeries. Both were successful and provided both major and minor increases in function for which we are very thankful.

Bridget

My daughter had the biceps surgery in Sept. So far I can't tell the difference. But we have to go through therapy too. I am sure there will be a difference later on, just like the modquad surgery , it takes time to see a difference.
The recovery is so much easier than the modquad , Ill tell u that. It wont be so bad.

Of course, there are no guarantees with surgery though so even if you hadn't waited for surgery you might be in the same position. Glad that you are optimist though about getting those last few degrees.

>

My daughter had the biceps lengthening surgery when she was six yrs. old. It was her fourth. She had a 20 degree elbow contracture and very limited triceps function. We are very happy with the results. This is the first time she has been able to tell us how she feels and she was so pleased with the change in function and appearance. The recovery was slow and therapy played a very important roll. Pain was minimal and the cast went over well in school. We too had tried sleeping in an elbow splint for years. It just kept getting worse. Overall we are thrilled. Good luck!