Treatment of Brachial Plexopathy: Conservative Management Approach
Clinical Scenario
Brachial plexopathy involves injury or dysfunction of the brachial plexus, often presenting with pain, weakness, and sensory changes in the affected upper extremity. Effective management addresses both the physical sequelae — including edema and loss of range of motion — and the associated pain burden.
Treatment Overview
Management follows a conservative pathway beginning with measures to reduce edema in the affected extremity, progressing to physiotherapy to preserve function and prevent stiffness…
🔒
Full regimen, sequencing, and pain management protocol available below.
References
- The aim of conservative treatment is to maintain the range of motion of the extremity, to strengthen the remaining functional muscles, to protect the denervated dermatomes, and to manage pain.
- Keeping the extremity raised and splitting and tensile banding may decrease edema.
- This should be followed by physiotherapy otherwise stiffness may be the final outcome, especially in the hand.
- NSAIDs and opioid drugs help us during the first stages but do not appear to help with neuropathic pain, which requires careful use of antiepileptic drugs (gabapentin and carbamazepine) or antidepressants such as amitriptyline.
DOI: 10.1155/2014/314137
View source ↗