Brachial Plexus Clinic

Meet Our Team

The Brachial Plexus Clinic at Texas Children’s Hospital is comprised of plastic surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians, and occupational therapists. The clinic is coordinated by an occupational therapist who has an advanced certification in hand therapy.

The radiology department provides specialized imaging to evaluate and aid in treatment of shoulder pathology.

Examples of this include:

• Ultrasound to monitor shoulder integrity in infants, which allows early detection of shoulder pathology for preventative, conservative management and can avoid invasive surgical procedures
• Ultrasound guided Botox, closed reduction, and casting of the shoulder where PM&R, Radiology, and Orthopedic Surgery all collaborate to treat early humeral head posterior dislocation in young children to avoid more invasive open surgery
• Intra-operative, evoked potential monitoring to aid in surgical decision making for primary nerve surgery in infants with significant brachial plexus birth palsies 

The therapy team provides evidenced-based evaluation and treatment of children diagnosed with brachial plexus birth palsy.

This includes:

• AMS (active movement scale)
• Goniometric measurement of active/passive range of motion
• Mallet Classification for older children
• AHA (Assisting Hand Assessment)
• (Video Assessment of Upper Extremity Function) - Not common for this to be offered within the clinic setting
• Orthosis fabrication at the time of clinic. This includes the SupER splint, which we fabricate to prevent humeral head posterior dislocation in infants who are developing shoulder contracture
• Being able to meet all immediate care needs in one appointment sets us apart from a typical clinic appointment