The forty-seventh annual meeting of the British Orthopaedic Association was held in London

Management of severe traction lesions of the brachial plexus-Dr I. Fletcher (Roehampton) said that in six years he had seen 120 patients with traction injuries of the brachial plexus at Roehampton. In only eighteen was there any functional use in the hand. It was important to have a prognosis as soon as possible so that treatment could be decided. This was done by the clinical methods described by Bonney to determine whether the lesion was pre-ganglionic or post-ganglionic. The presence of a Homer’s syndrome had a bad prognosis. Amputation was often the best solution, but the patient himself must make the decision. An alternative was a flail-arm splint. Sixty-nine amputations had already been done and eight more patients were awaiting amputation. An amputation below the elbow was more advantageous than one above, provided biceps and triceps power was adequate. The optimum stump lengths were 5 to 7 inches below the olecranon and 6 to 8 inches below the