New surgery for children with brachial plexus injuries

Brachial plexus is a cluster of nerves that connects the arm and hands to the brain. About one in 500 newborns suffer brachial plexus injuries during birth. Children either grow out of the problem, have surgery or live with disabilities. The previous method of cutting a patch of nerve from another part of the body and grafting it around the damaged nerve has downsides because it would leave a numb patch elsewhere on the body.

The newer surgery is called a nerve transfer. During the six-hour microsurgery, he cut the crushed nerve that exchanged messages between the girl’s hand, arm, shoulder and brain and reconnected it to a healthy, redundant nerve that didn't have much purpose.

The toddler suffered an injury that paralyzed her left arm and cracked a bone in her neck. The surgery has been around for adults for years, but now that is available to infants so doctors can fix problems before they pass the point of repair.

After a few months, she was reaching over her head, an amazing feat.

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