Lower subscapular nerve

Lower subscapular nerve
Diagram of brachial plexus (label for lower subscapular nerve at bottom center)
Details
From	Posterior cord
Innervates	Subscapularis and teres major muscle
Identifiers
Latin	nervus subscapularis inferior
TA2	6429
FMA	65307
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy [edit on Wikidata]

The lower subscapular nerve, also known as the inferior subscapular nerve,[1] is the third branch of the posterior cord of the brachial plexus. It innervates the inferior portion of the subscapularis muscle and the teres major muscle.

Structure

The lower subscapular nerve contains axons from the ventral rami of the C5 and C6 cervical spinal nerves.[2][3] It is the third branch of the posterior cord of the brachial plexus.[4][5] It gives branches to 2 muscles:

• subscapularis muscle.[2] It usually gives 4 branches to innervate the subscapularis, and can give up to 8 branches.[1]
• teres major muscle.[2][3]

Function

The lower subscapular nerve innervates the subscapularis muscle and the teres major muscle.[2] These muscles medially rotate and adduct the humerus.[3]

Additional images

• 
  Brachial plexus
• 
  The right brachial plexus (infraclavicular portion) in the axillary fossa; viewed from below and in front.
• 
  Brachial plexus with courses of spinal nerves shown

References

This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 934 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

1. Bustamante-Aliste, P. A; Sousa-Rodrigues, C. F; Olave, E (February 2020). "Origen del Nervio Subescapular Inferior, Patrones de Ramificación y su Contribución a la Inervación del Músculo Subescapular". International Journal of Morphology. 38 (1): 176–181. doi:10.4067/S0717-95022020000100176. ISSN 0717-9502.
2. Rea, Paul (2015-01-01), Rea, Paul (ed.), "Chapter 2 - Upper Limb Nerve Supply", Essential Clinically Applied Anatomy of the Peripheral Nervous System in the Limbs, Academic Press, pp. 41–100, ISBN 978-0-12-803062-2, retrieved 2021-01-10
3. Loftus, Brian D.; Athni, Sudhir S.; Cherches, Igor M. (2010-01-01), Rolak, Loren A. (ed.), "CHAPTER 2 - Clinical Neuroanatomy", Neurology Secrets (Fifth Edition), Philadelphia: Mosby, pp. 18–54, ISBN 978-0-323-05712-7, retrieved 2021-01-10
4. Nicole Bentley, J.; Yang, Lynda J. -S. (2015-01-01), Tubbs, R. Shane; Rizk, Elias; Shoja, Mohammadali M.; Loukas, Marios (eds.), "Chapter 42 - Anatomy of the Posterior Cord and Its Branches", Nerves and Nerve Injuries, San Diego: Academic Press, pp. 563–574, ISBN 978-0-12-410390-0, retrieved 2021-01-10
5. Thomas, Jared; Khan, Moin; Burrus, M. Tyrrell; Bedi, Asheesh (2018-01-01), Arciero, Robert A.; Cordasco, Frank A.; Provencher, Matthew T. (eds.), "5 - Overview", Shoulder and Elbow Injuries in Athletes, Elsevier, pp. 203–212, doi:10.1016/b978-0-323-51054-7.00005-1, ISBN 978-0-323-51054-7, retrieved 2021-01-10