Brachial Plexus Injuries

Excerpt

The earliest written description of a brachial plexus injury (BPI) is attributed to Homer circa 800 BC in his depiction of a battle during which Hector struck Teucer over the clavicle with a rock, rendering him incapable of wielding his bow in The Iliad. In the simplest terms, the brachial plexus can be thought of as 5 nerve roots (C5 through T1), which originate in the posterior triangle of the neck and extend into the axilla and terminate in five nerves: musculocutaneous, axillary, radial, median, and ulnar. The plexus occasionally receives contributions from the C4 and T2 nerve roots. The levels of the brachial plexus are arranged as roots, trunks, divisions, cords, and branches from proximal to distal, with the roots and trunks more commonly injured than the divisions, cords, and branches.