Electrodiagnostic approach to the patient with suspected brachial plexopathy

Brachial plexopathies are relatively rare but represent a significant number of referrals to the electromyography (EMG) laboratory The electrodiagnosis of brachial plexopathies is more time consuming and requires multiple common and uncommon sensory and motor nerve conduction studies and sampling a large number of muscles with needle EMG. This article first reviews the anatomy of the brachial plexus and classifies the various brachial plexopathies. Then, it discusses in detail the strategy and findings of the electrodiagnostic evaluation of patients presenting to the EMG laboratory with suspected brachial plexopathies.