Anatomy study note · Upper limb
Pectoral nerves
The lateral pectoral nerve (lateral cord) and medial pectoral nerve (medial cord) supply the pectoral muscles; they are named after the cords, not their position.
Key points
- Lateral pectoral = lateral cord; medial pectoral = medial cord.
- Lateral pierces the clavipectoral fascia.
- Medial supplies pectoralis minor and major.
- 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
Branches · Histology · Development
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Written from
- Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 3, PDF pp. 260–264, 340
- 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
- Pectoralis major
- Pectoralis minor
- Phalanges of the hand
- Pronator quadratus
- Pronator teres
- Radial artery
- Radial nerve
- Radioulnar joints and interosseous membrane
- Radius
- Rhomboid major
- Rhomboid minor
- Scapula
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