Prevalence and characterization of brachial plexus injuries in adult patients treated at Hospital de Accidentes del Instituto Guatemalteco de Seguridad Social, from 2016 to 2022

Objectives: calculate the prevalence of brachial plexus injuries (BPI) in patients treated at the Hospital General de Accidentes, Instituto Guatemalteco de Seguridad Social (IGSS) from 2016 to 2022. In addition, describe the clinical and epidemiological profile of the cases.
Background: BPI are typically caused by traumatic mechanisms, mainly affecting young male patients. These injuries disrupt the sensitive and motor functions of the upper extremity. However, in Guatemala there is limited information on the subject.
Materials and methods: A cross-sectional and descriptive study. Information from 53 medical records of patients with BPI treated at the Hospital General de Accidentes from 2016 to 2022 was compiled into an Excel database. The prevalence was calculated, and the association of factors was analyzed using the Chi-square test.
Results: the prevalence of BPI was 6.6 per 10,000 patients. All injury mechanisms were traumatic, with motorcycle accidents being the most common, primarily affecting male patients between the ages of 20 and 40. Postganglionic injuries showed a higher probability of improvement within 12 months compared to preganglionic injuries.
Discussion: No significant difference was observed in the distribution of the 3 types of injury. Differences in recovery were noted based on the type of injury. Affected patients are typically of working age, and BPI has physical, psychological and economic implication