Having surgery on Monday for RSD/CRPS and I'm wondering.......Please help!!!
Question: Having surgery on Monday for RSD/CRPS and I'm wondering.......Please help!!!!!!?
Will they give her a sling to wear?
With the catheter in her brachial plexus will she be able to move her shoulder?
By the way I'm daughter is 12 years old.
Answers:
Hi again - all my other answers were on the assumption that her doctor was going to do a stellate ganglion block (sympathetic nerve block), which is the usual treatment for CRPS, but now that you've said it's a brachial plexus block, I'll revise.
A plexus block is different to a sympathetic block because it will knock out the feeling and movement in her arm, so she will almost certainly be given a sling to wear to prevent any damage to her arm. Her shoulder is unlikely to be sore when they remove the catheter as the anaesthetic will still be in effect.The pain may return once the anaesthetic wears off, but hopefully whatever drugs they are using will help to push her CRPS into remission.
And yes - they will have to remove her gown from that area while the catheter is placed because the area needs to be cleaned thoroughly to minimise risk of infection around the catheter. I hope that she can cope with it - I can understand that at her age she's maybe worried about being 'exposed'? I know that I was painfully embarrassed about anyone seeing me for a long time.
All the best to her - and to you. My heart goes out to you having to watch your daughter going through this pain.
I can't remember if I mentioned mirror therapy in my other answers to you? While her arm is completely numbed out and she has no time, this would be an excellent time to do some mirror therapy with her. You'll need a mirror large enough to sit in front of her to block her view of her affected arm completely - so that all she sees is her good arm and the reflection of her good arm in the mirror. Get her to practice simple movements with her good arm while watching the reflection and imagining doing those movements with the bad one. It's difficult to explain - hopefully this link gives a better explanation - http://www.noigroup.com/en/Videos (Then click on the link to 'Mirror Therapy') and http://www.gradedmotorimagery.com/index.…
I think I put my email in my other answers to you in case you ever want to contact me but in case not - it's longears13@hotmail.com
I've had CRPS for 12 years