Brachial Plexus and Erb’s Palsy: Seeking Justice for Nerve Damage

Erb’s palsy is not always immediately obvious in newborns, and it may not be mentioned by doctors. If they do mention a brachial plexus injury, it may get overshadowed by a host of other issues that come along with a new birth.

This can lead to an unfair situation for the child that needs to be addressed. Erb’s palsy and other brachial plexus injuries can negatively impact a child in numerous ways, and the entire family can suffer as a result. Medical needs can be much greater than expected.

Families facing this diagnosis deserve to know the truth about what caused it. If the nerve damage was caused by a preventable medical error, an injury attorney can work to obtain compensation to meet future needs and offset losses. The child is entitled to justice.

Understanding Brachial Plexus Injuries

The brachial plexus is a collection of nerves that transmit signals between the spinal cord and the shoulder, arm, and hand. These nerves control gross and fine motor skills for the entire arm.

When these nerves are ripped, torn, compressed, or stretched, the function of the arm and hand can be severely impacted. Paralysis is common. While some minor injuries to the brachial plexus can occur during contact sports, the more serious injuries tend to occur due to intense trauma. Car accidents frequently cause brachial plexus injuries in adults, but they are often most devastating when they occur during the childbirth process.

Erb’s palsy is a type of brachial plexus injury. It affects the upper nerves in the brachial plexus. Damage to other nerves sometimes goes by other names such as total plexus palsy or Klumpke’s palsy.

Four Ways a Nerve Can Be Damaged

Although there are actually many different ways human nerves can be injured, these injuries are generally categorized in one of four types:

• Neurapraxia is the most common type of nerve injury, and it occurs when a nerve is stretched to the point where it is shocked but not torn. These injuries will often heal on their own with rest.
• Neuroma is also a stretch injury but one that causes more severe damage. The damage to the nerve fibers produces scar tissue, which then presses on healthy nerves. Recovery is usually partial rather than complete.
• Rupture injuries involve tears in the nerve tissue. These tears can sometimes be repaired with surgery, but they will not heal on their own. Surgical repair usually involves splicing damaged nerve tissue with a nerve graft extracted from another part of the body.
• Avulsion injuries are the most serious. They occur when a nerve is completely torn away from the spinal cord. Medical science does not currently offer a means to repair an avulsion. Sometimes, surgeons can restore some arm function by replacing the detached nerve with a nerve removed from another muscle.

Any type of nerve damage can result in lasting physical and emotional harm to a child, so it is important to take appropriate steps to diagnose and treat the injuries as effectively as possible.

How Medical Malpractice Can Cause Brachial Plexus Nerve Damage

Not every birth injury is caused by medical malpractice. Sometimes, doctors and other medical professionals follow appropriate procedures and take care in doing their jobs, yet injuries occur due to factors beyond their control.

But Erb’s palsy is frequently the result of negligent practices during childbirth procedures. Doctors may pull too hard on the baby’s shoulders or pull the baby’s head and neck sideways, stretching the brachial plexus nerves to the breaking point. During breech deliveries, doctors sometimes pull too hard on the baby’s feet with the same result. In many cases, doctors are rushing because they have ignored or missed symptoms of fetal distress and they are trying to make up for lost time. They should have ordered an emergency C-section and did not, so they try to muscle their way out of the medical emergency.

Other times, doctors failed to review the records and did not take appropriate steps to prepare for the delivery of a large baby or to adapt to constraints posed by the mother’s pelvis.

Instead of using standard delivery procedures, a doctor may apply excessive physical force. Or delivery tools such as vacuum extractors or forceps are used recklessly or with the wrong technique. When nerve damage could have been prevented if medical professionals had followed appropriate standards, then a personal injury attorney can work to obtain compensation for the family by pursuing a medical malpractice claim for damages.  

Symptoms and Long-Term Effects of Erb’s Palsy

For many parents, the first indication of a problem occurs when they notice that their child moves one arm much more than the other. Sometimes, the arm with nerve damage will be limp or rotated at an unusual angle.

Other times, the injuries are not apparent until the child is older and not meeting developmental milestones on one side of the body. The grip strength may be considerably decreased on one side. Early intervention and physical therapy can often help decrease the long-term complications from brachial nerve damage. In many cases, however, multiple surgeries are necessary to attempt to improve the child’s functioning. Erb’s palsy can lead to stunted bone growth, muscle atrophy, and permanent paralysis.

Children with Erb’s palsy often need extensive medical treatment and even then, they never gain the full functionality of the arm with nerve damage.

Fighting for Justice for Victims of Birth Injuries

When your child is injured during childbirth, they start off a step behind everyone else. Instead of catching up, they may fall further behind. They won’t be able to do the same things as their peers, and the emotional trauma can be more damaging than the physical injuries.

At Searcy Denney Tallahassee, our injury attorneys cannot perform medical miracles. However, we can fight effectively to secure compensation to provide the resources needed for the best medical care and, if necessary, adaptive devices. Proving the birth injuries were the result of medical malpractice provides a sense of justice that allows families to heal and move forward after the painful diagnosis. For a confidential consultation to discuss the assistance our team could provide for victims of Erb’s palsy or other birth injuries, contact us now.