Annales de chirurgie plastique et esthétique
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Ann Chir Plast Esthet · Aug 2013
[Management of upper obstetrical brachial plexus palsy. Long-term results of non-operative treatment in 22 children].
Treatment of obstetrical brachial plexus palsy (OBPP) is always debated, especially for upper plexus palsy. Some authors perform early surgical treatment in case of absence of biceps contraction at the age of 3 months. Others prefer to wait until the age of 6 months before considering a surgical procedure when no suspicion of root avulsion is found. We think that a conservative approach with intensive rehabilitation program can obtain good functional outcome for patients who will recover biceps function spontaneously between 3 and 6 months, and that it is not necessary to perform surgery at 3 months. To argue our choice, we have compared the long-term outcome of two groups of children with upper OBPP conservatively treated regarding the age of biceps recovery (before or after 3 months). ⋯ This study shows that global shoulder function is comparable for two groups. The children who did not recover a biceps contraction at 3 months of age had a global shoulder function as good as the one who recovered biceps function earlier. We think our intensive rehabilitation program allowed us to avoid a useless early surgery. Surgical plexus treatment was indicated for children who did not have biceps contraction after 6 months of age.