The contribution of electrotherapy to rehabilitation of children with obstetric brachial plexus palsy

Background: Obstetric brachial plexus palsy (OBPP) is the palsy of some part or the whole of the upper limb that occurs in the newborn during a difficult delivery. OBP results from injury to the cervical roots C5–C8 and thoracic root T1 with <1% of births. Purpose: The purpose of the review is to investigate the effectiveness of electrotherapy in combination with standard rehabilitation programs in the rehabilitation of OBPP. Method: A search in online databases, through search engines as Pub-med, PEDro and Google Scholar, was conducted. Inclusion criteria were studies and reviews published from 2015 to 2021 that used electro-therapy as one of the means of rehabilitation in children and infants diagnosed with any type of OBPP. A total of 9 studies were included in this review. Results: In the majority of the studies electrotherapy was used in combination with other therapeutic methods, such as kinesiotherapy, PNF, Bobath, Vojta, splints, massage, warm paraffin wraps, and home exercises, which were applied by the parents. The use of this approached presented a faster and more effective recovery, especially in cases where the muscles of the affected limb are not actively contracting. There are also several cases in which the condition of the affected limb has improved so much that surgery can be avoided. Conclusion: The results of this review demonstrates that electrotherapy presents positive effective in the rehabilitation of children with OBPP. Further research is needed in order to clarify the benefits of electrotherapy in infants and children with OBPP.