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Names Commonly Used to
Describe Brachial Plexus Injuries:
Erb’s Palsy (upper trunk
injury)
Klumpke’s Palsy (lower trunk injury)
Brachial Plexus Palsy
Erb-Duchenne Palsy
Obstetrical Brachial Plexus Injury (OBPI)
Trauma-based Brachial Plexus Injury (TBPI)
"burners" or "stingers" (usually associated with
sports-related injuries)
ABDUCTION: Movement
of the limbs toward the lateral plane or away from the body. Example: Lifting
the arm out to the side.
ADDUCTION: Movement
of the limbs toward the medial plane of the body or toward the axial line of
the limb. Example: Bringing the arm close to the body from the side.
ADAPTATION: The
adjustment of an organism to its environment, or the process by which it
enhances such fitness; the decline in the frequency of firing of a neuron,
particularly of a receptor, under conditions of constant stimulation.
ANTERIOR: Toward the
front or in front of.
ATROPHY: A wasting
away, in the size of a cell, tissue, organ or part. (When muscles are not
innervated, they atrophy.)
AVULSION: Tearing
away. The nerve root has been torn out of the spinal cord.
AXILLA: The underarm
area.
BICEPS: A muscle
having two heads or origins applied particularly to a flexor in the arm, and
to another in the thigh.
BILATERAL: Having
two sides or pertaining to both sides.
BRACHIAL: Pertaining
or belonging to the arm; as, the brachial artery; the brachial nerve.
BRACHIAL PLEXUS: A
network of lower cervical and upper dorsal spinal nerves supplying the arm,
forearm and hand.
BREECH DELIVERY: The
extraction or expulsion of the fetus which occurs buttocks or feet first.
CERVICAL: Pertaining
to the neck or to the neck of any organ or structure.
CERVICAL PLEXUS: A
network of nerve fibers originating in the upper four cervical spinal cord
segments. The cervical plexus distributes cutaneous nerves to parts of the
neck, shoulders, and back of the head, and motor fibers to muscles of the
cervical spinal column, infrahyoid muscles, and the diaphragm.
CLAVICLE: Also
called the collar bone, it articulates with the shoulder on one end (at the
acromion process of the scapula) and the sternum (breast bone) on the other.
CONTRACTURE: A
condition of fixed high resistance to passive stretch of a muscle, resulting
from fibrosis of the tissues supporting the muscles or the joints or from
disorders of the muscle fibers.
CONTUSION: A bruise,
an injury of a part without a break in the skin.
(CT) COMPUTERIZED TOMOGRAPHY
MYELOGRAM: A
diagnostic procedure where a radiopaque contrast dye is injected into the
spinal canal. X-rays are then performed which reveal the anatomy of the spinal
canal.
DELTOID: Adducts
arm, anterior fibres flex and rotate arm medially, Posterior fibres extend and
rotate arm laterally.
DIAPHRAGM: The thin
muscle below the lungs and heart that separates the chest from the abdomen.
DORSAL: Naming a
position more toward the back surface than some other object of reference.
DYSTOCIA: Difficult
delivery.
ELECTROMYOGRAPHY (EMG): A
test in which a small needle is inserted into muscle to record electrical
activity inside the muscle.
EPISIOTOMY: A
surgical incision into the perineum and vagina to prevent traumatic tearing
during delivery.
EXTENSION: The
movement by which the two elements of any jointed part are drawn away from
each other.
EXTENSOR: A muscle
which serves to extend or straighten any part of the body, as an arm or a
finger; opposed to flexor.
FIBROUS TISSUE: Although
most connective tissue has fibrillar elements, the term usually refers to
tissue laid down at a wound site, forming a scar. Excessive contraction and
hyperplasia leads to formation of a keloid.
FLACCID: Weak, lax
and soft.
FLEXION: Moving a
joint in the direction to bring it closer to the body. Example: "hand to
mouth" movement.
FLEXOR: A muscle
which bends or flexes any part; as, the flexors of the arm or the hand;
opposed to extensor.
GESTATIONAL AGE: Fetal
age of a newborn, calculated from the number of completed weeks since the
first day of the mother's last menstrual period to the date of birth.
HORNER'S SYNDROME: A
nerve condition which involves a dropping eyelid (ptosis), constricted pupil,
enophthalmos (sunken eyeball) and lack of sweating on one side of the face. It
is seen in association with injury to the cervical sympathetic nerve trunk in
the neck.
INNERVATION: The
nervous excitation necessary for the maintenance of the life and functions of
the various organs including muscles. Example: if a muscle contracts then we
know that it is innervated.
INTERCOSTAL: Situated
between the ribs.
LUXATION: Complete
dislocation of a joint, subluxation is partial dislocation of a joint.
MEDIAL: The side of
the body or body part that is nearer to the middle or center (median) of the
body. For example, when referring to the knee, medial would mean the side of
the knee that is closest to the other knee, the opposite of medial is lateral.
MOTOR: A muscle,
nerve or center that effects or produces movement.
MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI):
A
special imaging technique used to image internal structures of the body,
particularly the soft tissues. A MRI image is often superior to a normal X-ray
image. It uses the influence of a large magnet to polarize hydrogen atoms in
the tissues and then monitors the summation of the spinning energies within
living cells. Images are very clear and are particularly good for soft tissue,
brain and spinal cord, joints and abdomen.
MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM: A
team of medical professionals that work together to support the patient; a
multidisciplinary team for brachial plexus specialization would include a
pediatric neurologist, rehabilitation physician, and specialized and
experienced surgeons.
MUSCULOCUTANEOUS: Pertaining
both to muscles and skin; as, the musculocutaneous nerve.
NEUROLOGIST: A
physician who diagnoses and treats disorders of the nervous system.
NEUROLYSIS: Surgical
removal of all or part of a neuroma.
NEUROMA: A benign
tumor composed of nerve cells; the scar tissue that forms when there is nerve
damage.
NEUROSURGEON: A
medically qualified specialist in surgery who has specialized in the surgery
of the brain, spinal cord and other nervous tissue.
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST:
A
health care professional who provides services designed to restore self-care,
work, and leisure skills to patients who have specific performance
incapacities or deficits that reduce their abilities to cope with the tasks of
everyday living.
ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON:
A
medically qualified specialist in surgery who has
specialized in the surgery of bones.
PARALYZE:
To
affect or strike with paralysis or palsy.
PASSIVE: Neither
spontaneous nor active, not produced by active efforts.
PECTORALIS MUSCLES:
Muscular
tissues attached to the front of the chest wall and
extending to the upper arms. These are under the breast.
They are divided into the pectoralis major and the
pectoralis minor muscles.
PERINEUM:
The
region between the thighs, in the female between the
vulva and the anus, in males, between the scrotum and
the anus.
PERIPHERAL NERVES:
The
nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord, including
the autonomic, cranial, and spinal nerves. Peripheral
nerves contain non-neuronal cells and connective tissue
as well as axons. The connective tissue layers include,
from the outside to the inside, the epineurium, the
perineurium, and the endoneurium.
PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY:
Injury
to the nerves that supply sensation to the arms and
legs.
PHRENIC NERVE:
The
motor nerve of the diaphragm. The phrenic nerve fibers
originate in the cervical spinal column (mostly C4) and
travel through the cervical plexus to the diaphragm.
PHYSIATRIST:
A
physician specializing in physical medicine and
rehabilitation. Physiatrists specialize in restoring
optimal function to people with injuries to the muscles,
bones, tissues, and nervous system.
PHYSICAL THERAPIST:
A
rehabilitation professional who promotes optimal health
and functional independence through the application of
scientific principles to prevent, identify, assess,
correct, or alleviate acute or chronic movement
dysfunction, physical disability, or pain.
PLEXUS: A
network or tangle, a general term for a network of
lymphatic vessels, nerves or veins.
POSTERIOR:
Situated
in back of or in the back part of or affecting the back
or dorsal surface of the body. In lower animals, it
refers to the caudal end of the body.
PRESENTATION:
The
relationship of the long axis of the fetus to that of
the mother (also called lie). That portion of the fetus
which is touched by the examining finger through the
cervix or during labor, is bounded by the girdle of
resistance.
PROXIMAL:
Nearest
to, closer to any point of reference, opposed to distal.
RANGE OF MOTION (ROM):
The
range through which a joint can be moved, usually its
range of flexion and extension. Active range of motion (AROM)
is the active movement of a muscle. Passive range of
motion (PROM) is the motion range of a joint through
manual assistance.
RUPTURE: Forcible
tearing or disruption of tissue.
SPONTANEOUS:
Proceeding
from, or acting by, internal impulse, energy, or natural
law, without external force; as, spontaneous motion;
spontaneous growth.
SUBSCAPULARIS ACTION:
Rotates
arm medially, helps in adduction, abduction, flexion and
extension.
SUPINE: Lying
on the back.
SUPRAPUBIC:
Above
the pubic bone.
SURAL: Of
or pertaining to the calf of the leg; as, the sural
arteries or sural nerves.
SYMPHYSIOTOMY:
A
surgical procedure to effect an immediate dramatic
increase in the size of the pelvic outlet to permit
delivery of a baby. The cartilage of the symphysis pubis
(where the pubic bones come together) is surgically
divided in the procedure which can be a life-saver for
the baby.
TACTILE: Of
or pertaining to the organs, or the sense, of touch;
perceiving, or perceptible, by the touch; capable of
being touched; as, tactile corpuscles; tactile
sensations.
TERES MINOR:
Upper
dorsal axillary border of scapula; rotates arm laterally
and adducts it.
THORACIC:
Pertaining
to or affecting the chest.
TORTICOLLIS:
A
contracted state of the cervical muscles, producing
twisting of the neck and an unnatural position of the
head.
TRAPEZIUS ACTION:
Rotates
scapula to raise point of shoulder, adducts scapula,
upper part raises scapula, lower part lowers and pulls
scapula down, upper part draws head to same side and
turns face to opposite side, two sides together draw
head back.
TRICEPS ACTION:
Extends
and adducts forearm.
Definitions were
adapted from www.OnHealth.com, a medical network
website, and the Miriam Webster on-line Medical
Dictionary
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