Brachial plexus injury following blunt trauma; an anatomical variation in electrodiagnostic findings

Abstract

Damage to the brachial plexus branches is one of the most important events during traumatic events, which may cause various disabilities. Electrodiagnostic testing is the preferred method to evaluate the extent of damage to the brachial plexus following trauma. The case presented in this paper, is a 26-year-old man who had near normal function of pronator teres and flexor carpi radialis muscles on electrodiagnostic testing following a right upper limb severe blunt injury at the level of his arm. After surgical investigation, we found a rare variation in the proximal part of the median nerve. In this case, branches to the pronator teres muscle and flexor carpi radialis had emerged from the proximal section of the median nerve in the arm region. This new variation holds important clinical implications especially in trauma patients presenting with weakness in forearm flexion.