Quality of life issues for patients following traumatic brachial plexus injury – Part 2 research project

SummarySmall but significant numbers of adults sustain a traumatic brachial plexus injury, often resulting in devastating disability affecting their physical and psychological well being. There is limited evidence of qualitative research available and this paper reports on a study that considers the patient’s own experience of living with this injury. Patients were selected using purposive sampling from those who were on the database for the Scottish National Brachial Plexus Injury Service. Five patients were finally selected and data collected using semi-structured audio taped interviews and field notes. Similar themed categories were identified from the experiences described by the patients including employment, pain, body image and sexuality/emotions.Recommendations include timely and ongoing pain management reviews and initial counselling sessions for all new patients.