The treatment of war injuries of the brachial plexus

Abstract

To our knowledge there is little information available on the treatment of war injuries of the brachial plexus (BP)? -3 Most publications present a small number of patients with short or incomplete follow-up examinations. The reported results of treatment of brachial plexus injuries in World War II era were discouraging to the point that Brooks 4 believed that these treatments are rarely profitable or justifiable. Nulsen and Slade 3 also reported overall discouraging results from the study of 117 cases treated at different World War II treatment centers, and recommended early exploration only for cases of injuries to the upper elements, they also believed that treatment of the lower elements did not yield satisfactory results. With the progress in the operative techniques and the emergence of microsurgery, improved results have been subsequently reported? -8 During the revolution in Iran and the following IraqIran war (1979-1987), 2629 patients with peripheral nerve injuries were treated by the author. The purpose of this article is to report the experiences gained in treating 369 patients with brachial plexus injuries, and more specifically the results of 246 of these cases with followup evaluations of 5 or more years after surgery.