Abstract:
Background and Objectives :
Brachial plexus is responsible for cutaneous and muscular innervation of most
of the upper limb. Gross anatomical knowledge of the nerves like origin, course
branches and distribution are of vital importance. Most brachial plexus injuries result
in severe dysfunction of arm and hand. The anatomical variations of the brachial
plexus constitute a potentially important clinical and surgical issue. Even though
many studies have taken place involving major nerves of brachial plexus, they are still
far from complete.
The present study was done with the aim to study the formation of brachial
plexus and find out various anomalies in the arm.
Methods :
The study was carried out on 60 upper limb specimens (30right, 30 left)
obtained during the course of dissection from undergraduate students in the
department of Anatomy at BLDEA’s Shri B.M. Patil Medical College, Hospital and
Research Centre, Bijapur. The five major nerves were selected from the cords of
brachial plexus and there origin, course and distribution with respect to each nerve
was studied in the arm. The nerves include – musculocutaneous nerve, median nerve,
ulnar nerve, radial nerve and axillary nerve.
Results :
After detail study of the above nerves following results were obtained.
1. Communication between musculocutaneous and median nerves in eleven limbs.
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2. Musculocutaneous nerve was absent in one limb. 3. Median nerve supplied muscles
of front of arm in one limb. 4. Musculocutaneous nerve did not pierce
coracobrachialis muscle in seven limbs. 5. Communication between radial and ulnar
nerve in one limb.
Conclusion :
The anatomical knowledge of the nerves is essential for assessing the
functional loss and planned reconstructive surgeries.
Knowledge of the variation that are observed in our study are important to
neurologists, orthopaedicians and traumatologists as these may give rise to variable
clinical picture
