Management of pain after brachial plexus injury: a parallel study

Abstract Introduction: The study was carried out to find out the effects of surgical management on pain after brachial plexus injury. Method: A prospective with control trial was performed in 279 patients (236 males and 43 females) who had isolated total root avulsion for brachial plexus injury accompanied by pain. The patients were allocated into 5 groups according to the time between the injury and the first visit: within 2 months in group 1 (66 patients), 2 to 4 months in group 2 (80 patients), 4 to 8 months in group 3 (51 patients) and more than 8 months in group 4 (60 patients). The patients in group 5 (22 patients) all came to us within 2 months, but did not accept any kind of surgical management. So these patients received only conservative treatment and were defined as the control group. Total root avulsion was confirmed by physical examination, electrodiagnosis and cervical myelogram in all patients. Furthermore, surgical exploration was performed in all patients of groups 1, 2, 3 and 4. Neurotiz...