• Emmanuel P Estrella, Nina T Castillo-Carandang, Cynthia P Cordero, and Noel R Juban.
• ASTRO Study Group, Institute of Clinical Epidemiology, National Institutes of Health, University of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines; Department of Clinical Epidemiology, College of Medicine, University of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines; Microsurgery Unit, Division of Hand & Reconstructive Microsurgery, Department of Orthopedics, Philippine General Hospital, Manila, Philippines. Electronic address: epestrella@up.edu.ph.
• Injury. 2021 Apr 1; 52 (4): 855-861.

BackgroundTraumatic brachial plexus injuries are devastating injuries with lifelong disability and pain. The objective of this paper was to determine the functional disability of adult patients with traumatic brachial plexus injuries.Patients And MethodsA cross-sectional study was done to determine the functional disability of patients using the FIL-DASH (Filipino Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand) and the BPI (Brief Pain Inventory) Severity Pain Score (Tagalog version) questionnaires to determine the functional disability and quality of life of patients with traumatic brachial plexus injuries. A regression analysis was done to determine the factors associated with the FIL-DASH score with the level of significance set at p < 0.05.ResultsA total of 126 adult patients with traumatic brachial plexus injuries were evaluated with a mean age of 30.1(standard deviation [SD], 9.1; range, 17-69). There were 123 males and three females. The mean quality of life (FIL-DASH Score) of the 126 patients was 45.6 (95% CI: 42.5 - 48.7), (SD, 17.4), (range, 2.5 - 89.2), the mean BPI Severity Pain Score was 16.1 (95% CI: 14.6-17.8; SD, 8.9; range, 0-36) among 126 patients. On multivariate analysis using the hierarchical method of model building, higher range of elbow flexion, lower Brief Pain Inventory Severity Score, and longer months from injury were found to be associated with a better FIL-DASH score.ConclusionThe study showed that elbow flexion recovery, pain and duration of the injury were significantly associated with the FIL-DASH scores.Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

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