United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Alexyss is probably going in for surgery in March or so. I wanted to know what the difference is in each surgery? I know there is primary, secondary, and mod-quad. What happens during all of these and in what order do they originally go? I just want to be prepared. Also, hi to everyone! I haven't been on in awhile and wanted to let ya'll know that I haven't forgotten about anyone. Including you Francine!

hi Tracey....

well first of us let's preface once again that each child has a different injury, gets different surgical repairs, has different recovery..different rate of recovery and all that.....

With all that said and done.... I think that the most common surgery done is mod quad. It seems to be the one that most children need - even some children who didn't need primary but had latet recovery (meaning that it was a more severe stretch injury) seem to have the contractures that would require this type of repair. And then again I know some children who had primary and didn't need mod quad.

The other surgeries are less common. There is capsulodesis (correction of posterior dislocation), biceps lengthening (for biceps contracure), C7 Transfer (to try and get more hand function), pronator/teres transfer (to get more supination), osteotomy (to correct the positioning of the arm so it is more functional), muscle and nerve transplants (in the more serious cases). There's got to be more but I can't think of more offhand.

What surgery is planned in March?

Hi Tracey, I haven't talked to you in a while. I obviously cannot answer any of your questions since we are not there yet. As always, Alexyss is in my prayers and please give her a big hug for me! I will be talking to you soon.
Krista

Hi, Tracey. There are different names for surgery depending upon where you go. The names you are using are "TCH" terminology. You can go to their website - www.texaschildrenshospital.org -- click on Patient Care Centers - select a center - Brachial Plexus. If nerve surgery is needed, that would be first. TCH pretty much refers to nerve surgery as primary surgery. Sometimes after primary surgery, there is still more nerve surgery needed, such as nerve transfers. TCH would refer to that as "secondary" surgery. Secondary surgery to me is really a catch all phrase that could include nerve transfers, Mod Quad, the various other surgeries that Francine mentioned; basically anything but primary could be categorized into "secondary" surgery. How old is Alexyss? I would findout specifically what surgery they're considering for her and then look it up on the hospital's website and / or ask them for more info. If you're going somewhere other than TCH, the procedures might be the same or similar or they might vary quite a bit. You might also want to post here again for more specific info. once you know the name of the procedure(s) being considered. Take care.
-Tina