Anatomy study note · Upper limb

Clavicle

A long, S-shaped bone lying horizontally at the root of the neck. It acts as a strut that holds the upper limb away from the trunk, and it transmits forces from the limb to the axial skeleton.

Key points

• S-shaped strut holding the limb away from the trunk; no medullary cavity.
• First bone to ossify.
• Most commonly fractured bone: junction of the middle and lateral thirds.
• Lateral fragment: down (arm weight) + medial (pectoralis major). Medial fragment: up (sternocleidomastoid).
• Conoid tubercle + trapezoid line → coracoclavicular ligament.
• Clavicle: membrane bone (exception in the limbs).
• Bone: type I collagen + hydroxyapatite.
• Osteoblast builds, osteocyte maintains, osteoclast resorbs.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Features · Articulations · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 3, PDF pp. 216–220
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 7, PDF p. 98; ch. 10, PDF p. 141
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 7, PDF pp. 121–125, 130

More from the upper limb

• Coracobrachialis
• Deltoid
• Dorsal scapular nerve
• Elbow joint
• Extensor carpi radialis brevis
• Extensor carpi radialis longus
• Extensor carpi ulnaris
• Extensor digiti minimi
• Extensor digitorum
• Extensor indicis
• Extensor pollicis brevis
• Extensor pollicis longus

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