United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

My daughter is 8 weeks old and I was just curious if anyone has had a child this young go through these tests.
I have to schedule an appt. for the EMG & 3D CT. Can anyone give me a clue as to what to expect?

Chandra
I am not sure how that works on such a small baby.
I would hope they use emla cream when inserting the needles for emg on the baby. That can be an uncomfortable test. I am an adult with OBPI.

I wish you much happiness with your new sweet baby and I hope the tests go well. I am glad you found the message boards you will get so much support and that is necessary when dealing with OBPI.


KathM@ubpn.org

My daughter, Grace had an EMG at 3 months old. We tried to distract her with a bottle, toys, sucker, etc. We held her in our lap and they poked her with the needles. She did cry some, however, I do not think that she had that much feeling in her arm at that time, so it was not as traumatic as it could have been. I am sorry I do not know about the CT scan although we may be getting one soon. I am surprised that they would want one when your baby is so young.

Do you know the reason that they will be doing a CT on a baby so young? What are they looking for, that needs to be seen now and how will it directly impact treatment?

Also, remember that as a parent, you do have choices regarding procedures and just because a doctor suggests a procedure doesn't mean you really have to do it or that it is worth the risks. We actually backed out of an mri the day before the scheduled appointment, when my child was 3 months old. We flew across the state to have an appointment with the doctor and the MRI done. After researching and thinking hard about it, I decided the most important information could be gathered via physical observation, bicep activity, etc. In looking into it, I also learned that often tests such as MRI's and even EMG's do not provide accurate findings regarding nerve functioning/anatomy (saying avulsed when not, saying not ruptured or avulsed when indeed it was, etc., etc.) Also, many are not aware of the radiation levels in CTs. They are very, very high and there is information out there about the seriousness of this, especially among children. We all need to educate ourselves and be wise consumers, yet we also need to find the balance for treating our children. This has been a constant balancing act for me and something I often am revisting in my mind.

I am surely not trying to complicate any of this, I just think it is important for us as parents to learn all that we can and to make informed decisions. I have certainly learned that taking all medical advice (even from bpi specialists) is not always in my child's best interest. We have decided to do some procedures as my chid aged, however, I do not regret cancelling the MRI in the least and it would not have impacted treatment any differently. If you don't feel comfortable with it, ask questions and make sure it is truly necessary and iit s truly needed to make treatment plans.

Best wishes to you and your little one. None of this is easy to go through. I am sure everything will work out. You will be in our thoughts and prayers.

I, too, am surprised by wanting a 3D CT scan on a baby so young. That is a lot of radiation, and there isn't even much to see because the joints are not even close to being fully ossified... the changes that you would are looking for would only be visible if you visualized cartilage - using MRI or ultrasound. If there are bony changes to the extent you can see them on a CT scan, they are probably detectable by palpation!

My understanding is that the ability of EMG to detect meaningful information has come under increasing scrutiny in the past few years. I haven't investigated in depth, because no one I've spoken to recommends it for our child.

Kate

Hi I am Chandra S, but just figured out how to log into the website so now I am Chloe's mom
I think the doc wantsto do the CT scan because he wants to see if her bones are growing asymetrically(I think) It is only a bone scan from what I understand.
My mother was an ER nurse for 23 years and now works in a docs office and I am sure she would have told me not to have the CT scan done if it would be detrimental to my daughter's health or if it would really harm her in anyway possible.
If anyone has any idea where I might be able to do more research on the effects of the tests please let me know.
Thank you all so much I do get a lot from these boards.

Matthew had an emg done at 11 weeks. He was stuck in the arm with a needle to measure feedback results. The way it was explained to us was that the end of the needle is like a microphone to measure the waves of activity. Matthew did scream through the test, however when it was done he stopped right away.

He has never had a ct scan, he's had mri's

Cindy