O3442 BRACHIAL PLEXUS BIRTH PALSY: LONG-TERM RESULTS OF ANTERIOR RELEASE AND TENDONS TRANSFER AT THE SHOULDER REGION

Abstract

Aims: The most common contracture secondary to brachial plexus birth injury in the shoulder is the internal rotation-adduction one. The purpose of this study was to report the long-term results of the anterior shoulder release combined with transfer of the teres major and latissimus dorsi muscles posteriorly and laterally to allow them to act as external rotators. Methods: The described surgical procedure was performed in ten patients. Nine of them were male and one female, while eight patients had a lesion of the superior trunk and two had involvement of the entire brachial plexus. The patientsñ age ranged from 5 to 9 years old (av. age: 6 years) at the time of the operation, while the average follow-up time was 30 years (range, 25 to 42 years). Results: No improvement of the active abduction was noticed in any of the patients. The average increase of the active external rotation, which had postoperatively been achieved, was 35¡ and was maintained for an average time of 10 years, after which in eight of them gradually began to reduce. At the end of the second postoperative decade the active external rotation of the arm ranged from -10¡ to 5¡. Conclusions: The satisfactory early results of the described surgical procedure are not permanent. The þnal long-term result was the loss of the initial postoperative active external rotation possibly due to the gradually increasing degeneration of the transferred muscles.