Traumatic Brachial Plexopathy Differential Diagnoses

Updated: Sep 13, 2023
  • Author: Vladimir Kaye, MD; Chief Editor: Elizabeth A Moberg-Wolff, MD  more...
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DDx

Diagnostic Considerations

These include the following:

  • Traumatic root avulsion

  • Anterior horn cell disorders

  • Cerebrovascular accident (CVA)

  • Peripheral neuropathy

  • Entrapment syndromes of the upper extremity

  • Iatrogenic injury - Injection and/or block, thoracotomy, tourniquet paralysis

  • Sports injury - Stingers, burners

  • Psychogenic paralysis

  • Intraspinal and brachial plexus neoplasm

  • Myopathy

  • Neurodegenerative process

  • Toxic process - Exposure to heavy metals, synthetic hydrocarbons, alcohol

  • Infiltrative process

  • Vasculitic process - Polyarteritis nodosa (PAN), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), diabetes

  • Hemorrhagic process in the spinal cord or nerve sheath

  • Immunogenic process -Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, transverse myelitis

  • Shoulder and scapulothoracic dislocation, fracture, tendinitis, or capsulitis

Differential Diagnoses