SCAPULA WINGERS BRACE - A CASE SERIES ON THE MANAGEMENT OF LONG THORACIC NERVE PALSY

Objective: To evaluate the clinical utility of a new scapula winger's brace, Design: A case series, Setting: A tertiary military clinic serv ing a young population. Participants: Fourteen patients referred to th e clinic for thoracic nerve palsy of a least 3 months' duration. Outco me Measures: Manual muscle teals with and without the brace and patien ts' compliance/satisfaction with brace as measured by personal intervi ew during follow-up. Results: Muscle strength increased by one grade w ith brace application; patients who maintained compliance (n = 6) reco vered their brace-free shoulder flexion strength and/or had reduced pa in at the last follow-up (1 to 7 months after brace). All patients rep orted a subjective feeling of increased shoulder flexion strength and decreased pain with brace application, Conclusion: The scapula winger' s brace is a useful tool for physiatrists in the management of scapula r winging secondary to long thoracic nerve palsy. Additional studies a re needed to confirm the conclusion that the device's benefits derive from proprioceptive feedback that prevents muscle overuse or overstret ch and from its transfer of contralateral shoulder protraction force t o the affected scapula. This is a US government work. There are no res trictions on its use.