brachial plexus injury

[Guest guest]

We have a 2 1/2 year old schnauzer that was HBC two days ago. He has a femur

fracture on the left rear, corrected with surgery yesterday and a brachial

plexus injury on the right front. What can I do to help maintain the muscle mass

on the right front leg while he is recovering from surgery and being HBC? Would

estem help and should I use start off using the settings for muscle atrophy?

[Guest guest]

I would definitely use functional e-time to prevent atrophy. Make sure your "off" time is 2-3 times longer than your "on" time, to prevent fatigue. I usually try to place the pads over the triceps, but if he doesn't even have good scapular tone, you could try for the scapular muscles also. In addition, make sure you are focusing on maintaining elbow and carpus ROM. I am treating a case now that had flexor tone but not extensor (radial n. injury) that was seeing a practitioner at another facility, but by the time they came to our facility( 3 months later), she had a 30 degree elbow extension and a 35 degree carpal flexion contracture that has taken a long time to improve. You may want to think about a neoprene or thermoplastic splint to keep the carpus in neutral when they are resting. Good luck!

Bedenbaugh, PT, CCRP

brachial plexus injury

We have a 2 1/2 year old schnauzer that was HBC two days ago. He has a femur fracture on the left rear, corrected with surgery yesterday and a brachial plexus injury on the right front. What can I do to help maintain the muscle mass on the right front leg while he is recovering from surgery and being HBC? Would estem help and should I use start off using the settings for muscle atrophy?