United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I have not been told this, but it is posted somewhere that we should not have blood pressures or injections or blood draws in our affected extremity. I believe this to be true but can someone tell me why we can't?

i was told when i got my bpi it wouuld not give reliable blood pressure results and i should not have needles in it. as the muscles waste the blood supply is needed less so the veins shrink and become less efficient, i've also read a report by Simon Kay (UK bpi surgeon) saying that the veins themselves sometimes have nerve disruption as a result of the bpi. the circulation is definitely bad in the bpi arm, dunno about you guys but if i leave mine hanging down for any length of time the hand goes black, the blood goes down all right but can't seem to get back up. all in all it's probably not a good idea to stick needles in a bpi arm, probably more so if you can't feel it....i've never had a problem with this, all medics have looked at the bpi arm then just automatically use the 'good' arm. the downside is you CANNOT get that plaster off the inside of the good arm elbow if you have a flail bpi arm, my kids peel it off for me and boy do they enjoy it! revenge for all those ones i pulled off their knees :0)

The blood supply to paralysed limbs is normally quite badly affected. As you probly know, there is a supply / return system of veins and arteries. The arteries supply oxygenated blood to the limb, the veins return used blood to the heart to restart the process. The veins actually have little one-way valves which work in conjunction with the muscles to pump the blood back out of the limb.

Obviously with paralysis this process doesn't work properly (the muscles are dormant), so the veins only have the use of their valves which results in poor circulation.
Thats the reason for the 'pooling' of blood in the extremities (hand/fingers). The veins are not so able to return the blood, especially if they have to work against gravity (when your arm's hanging down).

It's a similar thing to varicose veins (you know, like 'old dears' get!) except with them it's the valves that don't work.

As a result of this I imagine as Jenny says that blood pressure is affected and therefore not reliable. As for injections, if you think about it, normally the injected substance would be circulated around your body in seconds, but with the reduced cirulation this will not be the case.

The other thing with injections, is usually they 'pat' or 'flick' the part of the arm where they will inject. This is to cause a nerve reaction, which causes the vein or artery to raise slightly, making it easier for them to insert the needle. If your arm doesn't react to this type of stimulus, then it's gonna make it much more difficult to locate the vein/artery.

Hope that all makes some sort of sense (I know what I mean).

Steve.

thanx for putting it properly steve, i knew there was summat with valves but couldn't remember it....it's been a long time since I had the bpi spiel from the doc, and the old memory ain't what it was. I assume the poor circulation also accounts for how long wounds take to heal-I'm always hurting my bpi hand and not noticing it for hours because I can't feel it (i think i need to immobilise it for my more adventurous exploits)then i have to keep a bluddy plaster on it for weeks while whatever hole i made in myself heals. cuts and grazes elsewhere heal in days..

Yeah it's also why they bleed more, there's no (or very little) nerve impulses to tell the body it's damaged, so it doesn't send the healing stuff to the injury.
I heard somewhere about how the human body is such a great healer. No-one told mine, I think I must have been last in the queue.

Hey Steve
Thanks for such great information. I was told as a child not to let anyone give me a needle or take blood pressure because of the bpi. Yet I still had to tell some doctors and nurses in hospital and explain that they would not get a good reading and might blow a vein.

I'll copy your answer and keep it in my file so that the next time I have to face a new doctor and he does not seem to get it! I will have detailed information.
Thanks so much
Kath

Yep Steve;

Everything you said is right...apart from the bit about 'old dears' and varicose veins...I've got varicose veins so who are YOU callin an old dear ay? hmmm?? ;0) ;0)

hheheheheheee! just kidding..(have got the veins tho...)

Nerve damage resulting from a bpi causing problems with the veins in the affected arm, is something that is not often discussed with you, by the medical proffession. In fact, I reckon some Drs. don't even know how bad it can be; I'm sick and tired of explaining to Drs, nurses etc why they're wasting their time putting a blood pressure cuff on my BPI arm, and sometimes, I get a real blank stare after I've explained...ditto with the blood testing or injection giving...is it because they are stuck in a routine? they just naturally go for the arm that is nearest to 'em??

Can you tell I'm fed up with ALL Drs at the moment???! :0(

...I'm back in the hospital again tomorrow...only routine stuff...but it means staying in for 3 days and nights...gggaaaah!

Hi Kathy, I just wanted to add another view to why it may not be good to stick needles and take blood pressure. After I was injured, maybe one year post accident, I'm waiting for a prescription to be filled when I sat down at one of those automatic blood pressure stations (for lack of a better word). Stuck ol' bpi in the hole and after the thingy inflated, I was a trapped goose !!! I hadn't hurt like that in a long time. I had totally ignored the fact that my whole arm is soooooooo hypersensitive, and when it got squeezed real good I was seeing stars. NEVER AGAIN !!!! I can't imagine what a needle would do, nor do I want to. By the way, the pressure reading on the bad arm was WAY off. A true bpi torture machine.

Thank you for the much needed info. Bare with me, I am only 1 year out, relatively new. But now it makes sense why I would have scars from the EMG's because my arm doesn't heal as well).

And you are right, those K Mart blood pressure machines hurt (I won't do that again.) HaHa

Kathy

Have someone take your pulse in both wrists at the same time. My pulse in my bpi arm is so off...