brahial nerve damage

[vette]

Recently had surgery to remove a benign growth from the mediastinum.  As a result am experiencing pain, tingling, etc in the arm which is from trauma to the brachial nerve.  Any idea how long this will take to resolve?

[CCF-Neuro-M.D.-JT]

Sorry to hear about your symptoms. We see a number of referrals from thoracic surgeons with patients just like you who have had brachial plexus injuries perioperatively from chest surgeries. The only you can do right now is get an EMG of the arm NOT EARLIER than 3weeks after the surgery by a well trained neurologist and wait. The EMG helps localize the problem within the plexus and many times can tell what kind of injury you had, meaning if it looks like it could be permanent, etc...It's a good sign if you start improving within the first few weeks. Hard to say how long it would take for your particular case as I haven't examined you and don't know exactly what part/s of the brachial plexus and how badly they were injured. But for the best case scenario in which it was a stretch injury only due to positioning intra-operatively, we see patients recover in a 6wk to 3 month period. It's another story if there was direct damage during the surgery. Talk to your docs about getting an EMG. Best of luck.