Abstract
Recently the importance of prevention in rehabilitation is reemphasized, especially that of industrial and traffic accidents. Of the injuries due to traffic accidents, the brachial plexus injury is one of the serious problems as it deprives vocational ability from young workers severely. The number of patients is growing with the increase of the big motor cycles. Of 294 patients seen at the Hospital of Tokyo University between 1958 and 1972, the information of 135 patients on their status could be obtained. Of 135 patients, there were 78 cases of the whole plexus type, 48 cases of the upper plexus type and 9 cases of the lower plexus type. Ninety-one patients were under the age of thirty years. Thirty-four patients of the upper plexus type returned to previous work and some of them took the lighter and easier work. Only 6 of them received vocational training, and 4 of them failed in employment due to maladjustment and misplacement. The traumatic brachial plexus injuries tend to occur most frequently in the socially and educationally disadvantaged people. This fact makes their work adjustment difficult.
