CLINICAL CASE OF ENDOSCOPIC BRACHIAL PLEXUS DECOMPRESSION IN A PATIENT WITH ROTATOR CUFF RUPTURE AND POST TRAUMATIC PLEXOPATHY

Posttraumatic brachial plexopathy - is an actual problem, which is usually seen after shoulder area trauma and is often accompanied with intraarticular pathology. In case of failed conservative treatment, open brachial plexus decompression is an effective procedure, however, it is pretty traumatic and is accompanied by number of complications and recurrences, what explains the necessity of development of low-traumatic, miniinvasive alternative techniques. Purpose - develop a new mini-invasive endoscopic technique of brachial plexus decompression. The new technique of fully endoscopic brachial plexus decompression was developed and presented in a 60-years old male patient with posttraumatic plexopathy and rotator cuff tear. Short-term clinical results were followed-up. The patient had a severe neuropathic pain syndrome in shoulder area before the surgery, there were neurologic impairments in upper extremity. The aspects of surgical technique are represented step-by-step. According to VAS scale the severity of pain syndrome in the patient before the surgery was 9 points, 6 months after surgery decreased to 2 points. Patient underlines the regression of neurologic problems, increasing of strength in the hand. The preliminary results do let us characterize the developed technique of endoscopic brachial plexus decompression as a low-traumatic and effective alternative to open decompression, which eliminates pain syndrome and promotes early restoration of normal function of arm in patients with post-traumatic brachial plexus pathology, and which can be easily combined with intra-articular pathology treatment - rotator cuff rupture suturing.