United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi, somebody may remember me...I had a winging scap 5 yrs ago and decided to have the decompression surg done in pittsburgh by a Dr Adelson. The surgery was succesful though I have since had residual pain near the site of the scar...BUT i got used to that, it was worth it....WELL...about a year after the surgery I started having some bad neck pain, I had it checked out and lo and behold c4c5c5c6 were herniated. They said it wasnt bad enough for surgery, but I thought was a "weird coincidence" that the LTN comes from c5..anyways over the past 5 yrs (with no winging mind you) I have had neck pain...sometimes bad...sometimes no big deal..my friend told me to try some facett shots, I went to the doc and he said they would come in a series of three, he ALSO gave me a cortisone shot/block in the right trapezius which would sometimes hurt me real bad if I had to stand for a long time. the first two series were no problem.....the third series started my trip back to the hell of 5 yrs ago. I left the office feeling very sore where he had injected the trap, 4 days later my trap(near levator scapula)was on fire and my @#$%^&* right scapula was winging again as it had 5 yrs ago.....I was abviously pissed but noticed that something was different. An EMG confirmed that the DORSAL SCAPULAR nerve was traumatized and that it was not allowing the RHOMBOIDS to fire resulting in ta-dah! a winging scapula! (same side as 04) Sooooo, as far as I know I am the ONLY person to have gotten this TWICE, after a sucessfull surgery and NOW from a different nerve and muscle. And....just like some of you poor people out there, when I go to doctors or these so called specialist, they dont understand it or even seem to care that is such a rare issue! It blows my mind that this isnt being written in a medical jounal by some big shot BP specialist! And yes I called Naths people and they were stunned when I told them about this. I have already had an MRI and emg and now will head to cleveland cluinic to see another neurologist, Im sure she will have an ego trip and dismiss me as they dont like talking to people who have any understanding of the body or the problem. If anyone has any ideas or insight please let me know, Im sure no doctors read these forums but if you are a doctor with empathy(rare) please let me know what you think

My daughter had a wonderful experience correcting her winging scapula at The University of Nebraska by Dr. Ake Nystron, MD, PhD. Her winging and severe pain was relieved immediately in surgery. Her winging was a result of a flag football injury that appeared to cause compression to the long thoracic nerve (She had a fractured clavicle). We saw Dr. Nath and had surgery scheduled. He advised us to try Dr. Nystom's procedure first since she had intense pain (intense pain is not typicl of LTN compression. The procedure done by Dr. Nystrom worked immediately. She is 11 days post op and her arm is fine. She has been out of all sports and unable to raise her arm past 90 degrees since 11/2008. She will go to softball practice today and resume her infield position.

Dr. Nystrom is a genious. He specializes in whiplash injuries and upper extremity impairment. He too, like Dr. Nath is a micrvascular/plastic surgeon and works in the department of orthopedics at the University of Nebraska in Omaha. He is the only person in the US who does this type of surgery. The procedure is a neurolysis that is basically done with "twilight sedation and periods of wakefulness.

It would definately be worth the cost of an airline ticket to have his opinion. I am a physical therapist that has seen many BPI patients. I have never seen anything like this. You must understand though, that although our daughter's injuries indicated a BPI was present and she did qualify for BPI decompression by our insurance, she did not actually have a BPI. She in fact probably developed a painful shoulder girdle syndrome that was a result of the muscle guarding severe spasms of the latissimus and trapezius. Her entire back would spasm and her posture was horrific. Today, (11 days later- she is beautiful, standinmg erect without rounded shoulders, smiling and painfree with normal shoulder ROM and WINGLESS).

Good luck!!

It is rare for two winged scapula events. What was the cause, if any was specified? My right scapula is winging, and my left now shows a tendency to start- it s way too loose, and aches at times. For me, they say it is Parsonage Turner Syndrome. And I hit the jackpot on this. Both arms impacted and legs too.

I have winging scapula from TBPI on left side that also moved to right side so both sides winged-are winging? I was told by OT and then a PT that all muscles work together and this is caused because of this. I plan to see a specialist at Mayo when I can get in.
I am sorry to hear about your experience that caused another winging from what seems to me to be poor techniques with injection-If a person injecting hit a nerve, to me, that is not good. I guess it was part of the teaching process to NOT HIT A NERVE, but I am 56 yrs old and who knows what health care people are taught today. I went to Nursing education in the 80s. I am an RN and we learned shots just never about BPI. So sorry this happened to you! Is it improving any?

Hi. I'm set to get this same decompression surgery next month. What kind of scar did your daughter have? And where was it?
I'm super nervous, but hoping for a little relief