United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

I think the post from kate should be removed here as it does not meet your guidelines.

When Brittany had her primary surgery seven years ago at TCH, Dr. Laurent did the exploratory and Dr. Nath did all of the nerve transfers and grafts. He did grafts on C5, C6, C8, and T1 and did a transfer on C7. He did an AWESOME job!! Dr. Nath is very capable of doing primaries on his own.

As far as the bones, osteotomies are done by Dr. Nelson Davino. He is an ortho.

The acromioplasty and the Triangle Tilt are done by Dr. Nath.

Kimberly

Kimberly, the triangle tilt is a bone surgery, are you saying he does this without an ortho? And can he do nerve grafts without a senior doctor to do the exploratory diagnosis?

Are the acromioplasty and the triangle tilt bone surgergies as well? Why does Dr. Nath do these surgeries but not the osteotomy? The triangle tilt is suppose to be more effective than the osteotomy right? Has anyones child had the triangle tilt done? I know this is a fairly new procedure and I am just wondering if anyone has seen great improvements with this new procedure.

To clarify some of the above posts:
Dr Waters DOES DO the nerve surgery himself. He does them all the time. Another neurosurgeon is not needed in surgery with him, but of course a hospital such a Boston Children's has more than one micro/nerve surgeon on staff. Just a FYI.
~Krista~

Hi, I was just informed that my 2 year old son has an elevated scapula at a grade 3 and is a possible candidate for the Triangle Tilt surgery, but not until he is at a suitable age. I am having trouble getting ahold of Dr. Nath and wanted to know if anyone knows what age is suitable for this surgery and what a grade 3 out of 4 means. Thank you, Janice

Thanks for the clarification, Krista. You must have read my mind because I was going to ask, knowing he is Ella's doc.

And yes of course, a hospital such as Children's Boston would have more than one neurosurgeon on staff. But what I meant was he/she is affliated with the Brachial Plexus Program directly but not necessarily solely.

P.S. I heard you are coming to my neck of the woods. Can't wait to meet you guys.

Hello all,

I believe Dr. Nath may be a neurosurgeon. When my son had primary surgery it was explained to me that Dr. Laurent and Dr. Nath were the two Neurosurgeons that could perform Nerve grafting. WHen my son had primary, all three were in the operation room. It was Dr. Laurent who did the nerve graft with Dr. Nath and Dr. Shenaq did the closing. But I was thought Dr. Nath was a neuorosurgeion. I definatly know that at TCH he and Dr. Laurent were the two that did Primary (the nerve grafting part).

As far as ORtho vs Neurosurgeon, my son is now 6 years old. I took him to a regular ortho for a bone exam. This ortho was not a BPI specialist and had no clue about his bpi injury and how it is affecting his bones. So if you do use an ortho, he must be a BPI specialist or has a very very good knowledge of the BPI. Brachial Plexius is classified as a nerve injury therefore the BPI doctores need to be crossed trained just like many mentioned here are.

Yeah Bernie...
Coming to get you guys in August!
Looking forward to meeting you guys and can't wait to have Ella meet Matthew.
~Krista~

bugzandtaz:

Just to clarify: Dr. Nath is a plastic surgeon, not a neurosurgeon. TCH's team approach means that a neurosurgeon and a plastic surgeon were doing the surgery. They each have important training to add to the approach of the patient. One is not "better" than the other.

Dr. Shenaq is also a plastic surgeon, Dr. Laurent was a neurosurgeon. Dr. Waters is an orthopedic surgeon. Again, not better or worse, just a different approach.

When I was in Italy and heard the doctors discussing bpi, it was more their approach than anything else that distinguished them (they ALL want to help the bpi's). There were some plastics people who I thought made a lot of sense and then an orthopod would get up and talk and I would think:" well that makes sense too". This is why they are meeting more and more to share ideas. This injury is very complex and the more modalities that get involved, the better it is for the recovery. Unfortunately, it also makes it more confusing for the patients (and their parents).

claudia