TY - JOUR PY - 2004// TI - Distribution and extent of involvement in brachial plexopathies caused by gunshot wounds, motor vehicle crashes, and other etiologies: a 10-year electromyography study JO - Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation A1 - Bowles, Amy O. A1 - Graves, D. E. A1 - Chiou-Tan, Faye Y. SP - 1708 EP - 1710 VL - 85 IS - 10 N2 - OBJECTIVE: To examine the differences in the extent and distribution of brachial plexopathy involvement caused by gunshot wounds (GSW), motor vehicle crashes (MVCs), and other etiologies, based on electrophysiologic data. DESIGN: Retrospective review of electrophysiologic data from 1993 to 2002. SETTING: A large urban county hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Sequential patients (N=109) with the diagnosis of brachial plexopathy established by electromyography testing. This included 35 patients with GSW, 25 involved in an MVC, and 49 with other etiologies. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable.Main Outcome Measures The brachial plexus was divided into 9 regions: upper, middle, and lower root; upper, middle, and lower trunks; and lateral, posterior, and medial cords. Regions involved by needle study on electromyography were denoted as positive or negative. The total number of regions involved was also recorded. RESULTS: Injury was most common in the trunks (52%), cords (36%), and roots (12%) (Pearson chi(2), P<.000). Specifically, the "other" category had the greatest number of injuries to the trunks (54%) (Pearson chi(2), P<.000), whereas the trunks (46%) and cords (45%) were more evenly affected in GSW cases (Pearson chi(2), P=.585). In the MVC group, there was a trend toward more trunks (56%) being affected (Pearson chi(2), P=.076). CONCLUSIONS: Differences were noted in the distribution of injury when examining subtypes of traumatic brachial plexopathies.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0003-9993 UR - http://dx.doi.org/ ID - ref1 ER -