Clinical and psychosocial outcomes following correction of supination deformity in obstetrical brachial plexus palsy patients: A retrospective study

BACKGROUND: Forearm supination contracture is the mostAQ common deformity of the forearm following obstetric brachial plexus palsy (OBPP). Supination deformities in OBPP may be corrected by performing forearm osteotomy; however, the high recurrence rate limits patient satisfaction. Apart from the cosmetic impairment of this deformity, there are no previous reports on the clinical and psychosocial outcomes of forearm osteotomy in patients with supination deformities secondary to OBPP. Therefore, our study aimed to assess the clinical, functional, and psychosocial outcomes following forearm pronation osteotomy in OBPP patients with supination deformity. METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted after a chart review of all OBPP sequelae with supination forearm deformity in patients who underwent forearm pronating osteotomy from 2006 to 2018. Data relating to OBPP were gathered, and functional and psychosocial outcomes were assessed using the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) questionnaire through interviews RESULTS: This study included 60 patients with a mean age of 8.7 years at the time of surgery. A total of 46 patients had lesions involving C5-T1 (76.7%). The mean preoperative supination deformity position was 68.5°, the mean amount of correction was 98.9°, and the mean forearm position was 30.5°, postoperatively. In the DASH assessment scale used postoperatively, 24 patients (42.9%) reported no restrictions on their daily activities, 25 patients (44.6%) believed that their social activities were unaffected, and 20 patients (35.7%) strongly disagreed with feeling less capable or less confident due to arm, shoulder, or hand problems. The factors significantly affecting position at the final follow-up were the amount of correction (p = 0.011), postoperative position (p = 0.005), and degree of pronation achieved (p = 0.02). The amount of correction significantly affected both self-confidence (p = 0.049) and activities of daily living (p = 0.033). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our study showed that the position at the final follow-up, the degree of pronation achieved intraoperatively, and the postoperative position significantly affected the position at follow-up and the outcome assessment. The amount of intraoperative correction was significantly associated with higher self-confidence and normal activities of daily living.