Brachial plexus injury and obstetrical risk factors

Objective: To determine whether known historical risk factors of brachial p lexus injury differ between affected neonates and healthy controls. Methods : The files of all 62 children with Erb's palsy who were diagnosed after bi rth were reviewed. The control group consisted of 124 randomly selected uni njured infants born within the same period. Results: Compared with the cont rol group, the mothers of the neonates with brachial plexus injury were fou nd to be significantly older (32.1 +/- 5.2 years vs. 28.9 +/- 5.8 years, P = 0.01), and had a significantly higher incidence of diabetic pregnancy (69 % vs. 14.5%, P = 0.001); the infants had a significantly higher mean birth weight (3846 +/- 576 g vs. 3220 +/- 582 g, P = 0.0001) and higher incidence of birth weight greater than or equal to 4000 g (27% vs. 4.8%, P = 0.0001) . Two of the infants in the study group (3.2%) were born by elective cesare an section. Conclusions: Brachial plexus injury is associated with several non-predictable or preventable risk factors. (C) 2001 International Federat ion of Gynecology and Obstetrics. All rights reserved.