Brachial Plexus Puppy Case

[lehughes]

Hi again. First let me say that I am learning so much from your videos- I diagnosed a MSI the other day- I usually watch your videos a few times before performing or at least once after I try it on my own- but his shoulder was able to rotate almost completely around in the glenoid fossa- yuck.

I do have a puppy that I posted and a question on a husky mix that is confusing me.

Puppy- 6 mo MI shepherd- brachial plexus- posted on a FB forum but with the holidays I'm sure no one saw it. I read y our blog and I think Im doing all I can.

Posting:
5.5m MI shepherd puppy fell/jumped out of owners truck 2.3 months ago and has no deep pain to the left forelimb at initial presentation. no withdrawal, carpal contracture, elbow contracture but movement of the shoulder- significant muscle wasting of the limb. he did respond to hemostats- consistently- pinching the dorsum of the antebrachium- the extensor carpi radialis to the middle of the limb but did not respond to any of the caudal muscles the extensor digitorum lateralis, the ulnaris lateralis, any of the toes- initially, but today reacted intermittently to pinching of the dew claw on the left- screamed and pulled back, but not consistently. I used the peanut today ( 3rd visit) the red 40cm and he was standing and placed the left leg on the peanut and then pushed up onto the peanut. owners have reduced the contracture of the elbow but not the carpus- afraid that his trying to use it is twisting the limb since he is a puppy
would E-Stim/TENS be advisable to send home with owner- did EA last week and I swear the feeling is closer to the distal limb this week. I have not used Estim since my course- find the motor end plate and turn up till I get a response right? anyone want to tell me where to look or place- triceps? etc
any other exercises? would any kind of brace get that leg to return to normal- still talking to Owners about amputation probability but would like to still try a few things if I can.

JM

[lehughes]

Hey J,

So for this brachial plexus puppy, 2 months without function doesn’t bode well for full recovery now. I would expect more improvement within that time - so it’s not likely to come back. However, I’m not sure that you would need an amputation. Maybe try with some toe-ups or a dorsi-flex assist to see if the dog can use the leg functionally at all. (Do a mock up version). Check out Video Training 123 or Video Training 203 as things to try.

The e-stim won’t change the outcome. It doesn’t stimulate nerve growth, but you can use it to test for nerve regeneration. Check out Video Training 54.
However therapies that target healing of nerves are in order - i.e. the acupuncture (electro or not) and laser (to the neck and brachial plexus region).
With the caveat that if sensation is / does come back and the dog starts to chew on the leg that it should be put in a cone asap and put on something like gabapentin.

Those videos should get you going for that case anyways.

All the best and Happy 2021!

Cheers!

Laurie