Anatomy study note · Upper limb

Brachial plexus

The network of nerves, formed in the neck and axilla from the anterior rami of C5–T1, that supplies the upper limb.

Key points

C5–T1 anterior rami: Roots, Trunks, Divisions, Cords, Branches ("Robert Taylor Drinks Cold Beer").
Upper trunk C5–6, middle C7, lower C8–T1.
Cords named by relation to the 2nd part of the axillary artery.
Erb (C5–6): waiter's tip. Klumpke (T1): claw hand.
Five terminal nerves: musculocutaneous, median, ulnar, axillary, radial.
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.

Relations · Features · Branches · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 3, PDF pp. 328–340, 353–357
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