The Facts About Brachial Plexus Injuries

The brachial plexus is the system of nerves which transmits signals between the spine through the shoulder and down the arm, into the hands. You can sustain damage to your brachial plexus in a number of ways: by gripping the steering wheel too hard in a car accident, by throwing a baseball or football too hard, or by falling on your shoulder, just to name a few.

Sometimes these injuries resolve on their own. Other times, they are serious enough to warrant surgery. The Mayo Clinic tells us that a severe brachial plexus injury “can leave your arm paralyzed, with a loss of function and sensation. Surgical procedures such as nerve grafts, nerve transfers or muscle transfers can help restore function.”

Brachial plexus birth injuries

Brachial palsy is a specific type of birth injury. If the doctor delivering your baby uses a vacuum extractor or forceps too forcefully, or pulls on the child’s head too hard, the child’s nerves can be damaged. The Journal of Perinatology’s January 14, 2016 edition recently identified the most common risk factors for brachial plexus-related birth injuries, and discovered that healthcare “providers clinically underestimated the birth weights” of the 78 children they studied who sustained such injuries. They also discovered:

• 90% of brachial plexus injuries occurred in children who had been delivered vaginally
• 58% of the delivering mothers had already given birth to a child vaginally
• The children in the study were “as expected, significantly larger than their previously born siblings”

Why the birth weight matters

Brachial palsy is often caused by shoulder dystocia – when the baby’s shoulder gets lodged behind his or her mother’s pubic bone. If a doctor underestimates the weight or size of the child, he or she may be unable to anticipate the potential dangers of a natural birth to the child. Shoulder dystocia can lead not only to brachial plexus palsy, but also to oxygen deprivation (if the child is stuck for too long), which can cause permanent brain damage or permanent conditions like cerebral palsy.

A doctor’s failure to accurately assess the size of your unborn child, or to anticipate the potential risks of delaying a necessary C-section as a result, may be considered an act of medical negligence. As one of Maryland’s premier medical malpractice firms, Plaxen Adler Muncy, P.A. has the skills, resources and experience necessary to provide comprehensive counsel to injury victims and their families. Whether your brachial plexus injury was the result of an auto accident in Maryland, or the result of an act of medical negligence, we can help. Please contact us to reserve a consultation with a dedicated Baltimore birth injury lawyer.