Brachial Plexus

Brachial Plexus injuries during birth are almost always associated with the occurrence of "shoulder dystocia". Shoulder dystocia occurs when one of the baby's shoulders (although on rare occasion it can be both) becomes lodged up against the mother's pubic bone during delivery. There are specific maneuvers that must be followed in order to deliver the baby without injury. When the doctor or nurses fail to follow these maneuvers, and the delivering health care provider (either doctor or nurse mid-wife) exerts excessive lateral traction on the baby's head and neck, the nerves of the baby's brachial plexus in the stuck shoulder become stretched to the point of tearing. The tear can occur at the meeting point of the nerve with the spinal column or at a point along the nerve itself. When the nerve heals itself, a neuroma may form. The condition can be significantly improved by surgery to repair the nerve with one taken from another part of the baby's body (usually the leg). There are less than a handful of doctors in the United States who perform this surgery. Our firm has handled numerous cases of brachial plexus injury.