Anatomy study note · Upper limb
Axillary nerve
A branch of the posterior cord (C5, 6) that winds round the surgical neck of the humerus to supply deltoid and teres minor.
Key points
- Posterior cord, C5–6.
- Quadrangular space + posterior circumflex humeral artery.
- Deltoid + teres minor + skin over the lower deltoid.
- Injured by surgical-neck fracture / shoulder dislocation.
- Upper limb nerves: C4–T2 segments; lower limb: L2–S2.
- Ventral root: basal-lamina neurons. Dorsal root: neural-crest ganglion cells.
- Nerve: epineurium → perineurium (blood–nerve barrier) → endoneurium.
- Cut nerve: Wallerian degeneration; regrows 0.5–3 mm/day.
The full note in the atlas also covers
Course · Branches · Histology · Development · Clinical notes
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Written from
- Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 3, PDF pp. 259, 350
- Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 17, PDF pp. 318, 321, 323–325; ch. 10, PDF pp. 143–144
- BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 9, PDF pp. 163–166, 171–172
More from the upper limb
- Axillary vein
- Basilic vein
- Biceps brachii
- Brachial artery
- Brachial plexus
- Brachialis
- Brachioradialis
- Breast
- Carpal bones
- Cephalic vein
- Clavicle
- Coracobrachialis
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