Variations of musculocutaneous nerve – A cadaveric study

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v15i9.67733

Keywords:

Musculocutaneous nerve; Coracobrachialis; Median nerve; Lateral cord

Abstract

Background: Musculocutaneous nerve (MCN) is a mixed nerve arising from the lateral cord of brachial plexus having root values C5, 6, and 7. It supplies the muscles of the flexor compartment of the arm namely; coracobrachialis, most part of brachialis and both heads of biceps brachii. It is cutaneous to the lower lateral part of forearm. Variations in the origin, course, branching pattern, termination, and connections of MCN are very common. Knowledge about these variations is important while evaluating unusual presentations of peripheral nerve injuries, during surgical procedures such as arthroscopy of shoulder joint, corrections of fracture humerus, brachial plexus block, and so on.

Aims and Objectives: The study was conducted to find out any variations in the origin, course, branching pattern of the MCN. The secondary objective was to understand about the communication of the MCN with any other nerve.

Materials and Methods: A descriptive study was conducted in 60 upper limb specimens dissected from 10% formalin embalmed 30 cadavers (adult) in the Department of Anatomy, Government Medical College, Kottayam. All limbs were carefully dissected and studied about the origin, course, termination, and variations of MCN.

Results: Out of 60 specimens studied, in 46 specimens MCN Originate from lateral cord, eight from medial cord, and in six from the lateral root of the median nerve (MN). In 52 specimens, MCN supplies coracobrachialis but only in 34 it pierces this muscle. In four specimens, there is a communication between MCN and MN was seen.

Conclusion: The MCN has significant variations and knowledge of these variations is clinically important in diagnosis and management of peripheral nerve injuries as well as surgical interventions in the arm.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Abstract
73
PDF
111

Downloads

Published

2024-08-06

How to Cite

Anju George, Maheswary Thampi S, Aswathy VA, & Geetha Jayachandran. (2024). Variations of musculocutaneous nerve – A cadaveric study. Asian Journal of Medical Sciences, 15(9), 3–7. https://doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v15i9.67733

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 9 (2024)

Section

Original Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Asian Journal of Medical Sciences

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. The journal holds copyright and publishes the work under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC license that permits use, distribution and reprduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. The journal should be recognised as the original publisher of this work.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).