Anatomy study note · Upper limb

Dorsal scapular nerve

A branch of the C5 root that supplies the rhomboids and levator scapulae.

Key points

• C5 root.
• Rhomboid major + minor + levator scapulae.
• Retracts and elevates the scapula.
• 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

Histology · Development

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 3, PDF pp. 302, 339
• 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

• 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
• Extensor retinaculum of the wrist
• Flexor carpi radialis
• Flexor carpi ulnaris

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