Early Conservative Physical Therapy Management of Babies With Obstetric Brachial Plexus Injury to Facilitate Spontaneous Recovery.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effect of early immobilization and proper handling techniques in infants with Obstetric Brachial Plexus Injury (OBPI) in the first 2 weeks of life.

METHOD

Six 1-day-old infants (2 males and 4 females) with OBPI were included. The assessments were done at baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up, which involved a physical exam, Narakas classification, Active Movement Scale, and gross and fine motor skills evaluation.

RESULT

All infants had upper Erb's palsy. They had statistically significant improvement in the Active Movement Scale scores post-intervention with a large effect size. These improvements were maintained at follow-up. All infants achieved age-appropriate gross and fine motor skills with the affected upper limb at 3 months of age.

CONCLUSION

Early conservative physical therapy management had a statistically significant effect on enhancing spontaneous recovery and preventing further nerve injury in OBPI infants.