How to Diagnose Brachial Plexus Injuries

The nerve function of your shoulder, arm and hand is controlled by the brachial plexus. Any injury to this network of nerves can cause uncomfortable symptoms and disturb the arm's functioning. Brachial plexus injuries can happen at birth when your baby's shoulders become impacted during labor. Most injuries are due to nerve damage but they can be severe when the nerve is torn from the spine.

Instructions

• 1

  Find out if the patient was in a motorcycle or motor vehicle accident recently. It takes a fairly traumatic impact to cause brachial plexus injuries. Get a full description of the incident especially if the patient went to the emergency room.

• 2

  Examine the neck and shoulders extensively. The patient may feel pain in these areas. While many conditions cause pain, sudden onset along with other symptoms discussed below can signal you need to conduct further diagnostic testing.

• 3

  Conduct a detailed neurological examination. Numbness of the shoulder, arm or hand is indicative of brachial plexus injury in the context of trauma. Go as deeply as possible when feeling the nerves in these areas to be certain of what the patient is feeling.

• 4

  Check for weakness or a heavy feeling of the arm with a motor examination. Have the patient move his shoulder, arm and wrist in all directions.

• 5

  Order x-rays of the chest, shoulder and spine. Look for anomalies in the thoracic spine and shoulder areas. Anterior/posterior and lateral views are most helpful for assessing brachial plexus injuries.

• 6

  Get a CT scan of the neck and chest. These can show cervical, scapula and upper arm fractures as well as vessel injuries just below the clavicle.

• 7

  Suggest an MRI scan. While there needs to be more research regarding its usefulness in brachial plexus injuries, it's the only test that can visualize some portions of this nerve network.