A systematic review 1 including 8 studies (2 cross-sectional comparative studies, 1 retrospective comparative study, 2 prospective case series and 3 retrospective case series) with a total of 751 subjects was abstracted in DARE. The recovery rates ranged from 17 to 100%; most studies reported the attainment of normal or near normal function in more than 80% of the included participants. 3 studies compared conservative management with surgery and provided conflicting evidence on their relative effectiveness. 2 studies documented recovery in terms of severity of brachial plexus lesion: 1 showed that infants with minor lesions recover in less than 1 month following birth with conservative management, whereas the other showed that surgical management achieved a greater active shoulder range of motion compared with conservative management in infants with minor lesions.
Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by inconsistency (variability in results across studies).
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