Lower subscapular nerve

Brachial Plexus Examination

Published in J. Terrence Jose Jerome, Clinical Examination of the Hand, 2022

Janice He, Bassem Elhassan, Rohit Garg

The posterior cord gives off the upper subscapular nerve, the thoracodorsal nerve and the lower subscapular nerve. The upper and lower subscapular nerves innervate the upper and lower portions of the subscapularis respectively, which provides shoulder internal rotation. The lower subscapular nerve also innervates the teres major which is a shoulder adductor. The thoracodorsal nerve innervates the latissimus muscle, which helps to adduct, extend and internally rotate the shoulder (Table 12.1).

Anatomical feasibility study of the infraspinatus muscle neurotization by lower subscapular nerve

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Journal Information

Published in Neurological Research, 2023

Aneta Krajcová, Michal Makel, Gautham Ullas, Veronika Němcová, Radek Kaiser

The loss of shoulder external rotation caused by infraspinatus muscle palsy is also seen in up to one-third of scapular fractures [4]. Isolated lesion of the infraspinatus branch of the SSN (IB-SSN) occurs in fractures of the scapular body or spinoglenoid notch. Direct suture or reconstruction by nerve grafts may be impossible in complex scapular fractures. Due to its anatomical proximity, we hypothesise that the lower subscapular nerve (LSN) may be used as a donor nerve for the IB-SSN neurotization. LSN is also almost exclusively a motor nerve, making it an ideal donor for nerve reconstruction. Furthermore, the trunks of the SSN and LSN are of similar diameter [5,6].

Lower subscapular nerve

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Brachial Plexus Examination

Anatomical feasibility study of the infraspinatus muscle neurotization by lower subscapular nerve