Brachial plexus injury Brachial plexus injury A brachial plexus injury (BPI), also known as brachial plexus lesion, is an injury to the brachial plexus, the network of nerves that conducts signals from the spinal cord to the shoulder, arm and hand. These nerves originate in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth cervical (C5–C8), and first thoracic (T1) spinal nerves, and innervate the muscles and skin of the chest, shoulder, arm and hand. Brachial plexus injuries can occur as a result of shoulder trauma, tumours, or inflammation. The rare Parsonage-Turner Syndrome causes brachial plexus inflammation without obvious injury, but with nevertheless disabling symptoms. But
Brachial plexus block useful in providing anesthesia and postoperative analgesia for surgery to the elbow, forearm, wrist, and hand. The axillary block is also the safest of the four main approaches to the brachial plexus, as it does not risk paresis of the phrenic nerve, nor does it have the potential to cause pneumothorax. In the axilla, the nerves of the brachial plexus and the axillary artery are enclosed together in a fibrous sheath which is a continuation of the deep cervical fascia. The easily palpated axillary artery thus serves as a reliable anatomical landmark for this block, and the injection of local