Conservative Treatment of Neonatal Brachial Plexus Palsy: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Neonatal brachial plexus palsy (NBPP) is a flaccid paralysis of the upper limbs that occurs in about 0.4 percent of live births. This condition can produce permanent disabilities; to date, there is no consensus on protocols to be applied for the rehabilitation of children with this condition. The aim of this article is to provide a concise overview of conservative treatment beyond traditional physical therapy for the management of the child with NBPP and to offer a number of useful options for creating the most comprehensive and functional rehabilitation treatment possible. We conducted a narrative review after analyzing articles from the past 50 years on PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and Web of Science with the following search string [(“neonatal brachial plexus palsy” OR “obstetric brachial plexus palsy” OR “birth brachial plexus palsy”) AND (“rehabilitation” OR “physiotherapy” OR “conservative treatment”)]. We identified a potential of 1275 articles, but only 11 were exclusively about conservative approaches. The most represented rehabilitation approaches in the literature were botulinum toxin, constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT), virtual reality, neuromuscular electrical stimulation, and kinesiotaping. In conclusion, the various rehabilitation approaches for NBPP are promising, but none can be considered the best option when used alone. In light of the current evidence, a multimodal approach is needed.