United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

At the NYC picnic, Dr. Nath suggested that we get x-rays of my daughter's shoulders to check the BPI side's joint. He suspects that her shoulder is dislocating. He also mentioned that the bump on her arm is a radial head dislocation. We had x-rays taken Wed. but I was just curious if others had this done and whether the x-rays show a clear enough picture of the shoulder and elbow joints? My daughter was very hard to hold still so I'm not sure how the x-rays will turn out. A copy will be sent to Dr. Nath and I am going to show the originals to our PT and our Dr. of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Julie,

We had x-rays last February for Kelsey to see about dislocation (per Dr. Nath). The x-rays weren't conclusive, so they ended up checking it when we got there. Kelsey did have the capsuoldesis surgery. Dr. Nath has a good eye.

We had xray done of my sons shoulder pre mod quad and then we just had them done again, one year after the mod quad. I find it interesting to look at and see the deformities in the shoulders. There is a big difference in my sons shoulders and humerous. I am still deciding on the caps surgery, which has been recommended.

We had x-rays of Sophie in June (she was 14 mo. old). They were looking for dislocation - but also to get a baseline. I'm guessing they will be able to take x-rays again in the future and compare to these to see here progress?

Yes Jameson had the radial head of his elbow dislocate then grow too long. It grew in an L shape and needed to be cut off. He had the surgery done recently and he is doing great. He gained a few degrees of movement too because the bone was causing a blockage. The doc at TCH suggested an osteotomy but our doctor here said he didn't think Jameson was a good candidate for that because of his muscle imbalances. He said the bone removal(about 3/4 of an inch) was much less evasive....He was right. Jameson could have come home the same day if the surgery had been early morning and he had 0-2 in the pain area. He went through therapy 3 times a week for a few weeks and he is doing well....no complaints!!
If anyone wants pictures feel free to e-mail me at:

olafferty@triconet.org

I have a few pictures of the bone.
T.

Hi, Julie. Dr. Nath also suggested that we have xrays done of Nicole's shoulder. We had them done last Dec. just before her Capsulodesis surgery. The xrays confirmed the partially dislocated shoulder that he saw visibly. I do know, however, that xrays aren't always conclusive. It's a good place to start, but you might need further tests such as an MRI or CT Scan, depending upon what the dr. says. Dr. Nath also suggested that we have xrays done again this Dec. to see progress 1 yr post-op. I think that while they xray her shoulder, we should prob. have them xray her elbow too since many children have elbow problems and Nicole complains of pain in her elbow often. I'm surprised that they didn't show you the xrays immediately and let you take them with you. That's what they did with us. I was even able to see the dislocation on Nicole's xray, but again that's not always the case. -Tina

Katie's showed the deformities and the humerus being very much lower than the other side but no obvious dislocations--but everytime someone examined her they could feel it. I think too it is hard to position the kids properly enough to get a good look. We too ended up with caps...

My daughter had a dislocated shoulder also. Her orthopedist is wonderful! He looked at the x-rays himself. You could clearly see the dislocation. I know of another family whose son had a radial head dislocation. They said you could see it clearly in the x-rays. The ortho saw the same thing. Trust your judgement and look closely. Good luck!
Tracey