The Anatomical Feature And Clinic Significance Of The Axillary Nerve

Objective:The objective of this study is to provide anatomical basis for reducing iatrogenic injury to axillary nerve through observing the anatomical morphology of and the relationship between axillary nerve and the surrounding anatomical landmarks.Method:Selected 16 intact upper limb specimens with formalin fixed,including 8 males and 8 females without any pathology and injury.The anatomy of the axillary nerve and related surrounding tissues wereperformed to observe.Measured indicators include below:the length of the axillary nerve,the distance between the axillary nerve and the surrounding structure,distribution of axillary nerve,the length and width of the deltoid,the width of the axillary nerve,the height and the width of the insertion of the axillary nerve on the deltoid muscle.All statistics were analyzed by SPSS software.Results:The axillary nerve started from the brachial plexus,then it bypassed the lateral edge of the scapula accompanied with subscapular blood vessels,and moved along the anteroinferior side of the subscapular muscle,and went to the posteroinferior side of the capsule of the shoulder.Then the nerve moved through the gap of quadrilateral foramen and bypassed the humeral surgery neck and inserted in the deltoid muscle.Then it performed radial distribution in the deep surface of the deltoid muscle.The distances of male and female between the axillary nerve and the acromion were respectively(60.74±4.88)and(56.30±4.46)mm,the distances of male and female from the axillary nerve to the greater tuberosity of humerus were respectively(36.02±4.16)mm and(33.04±4.58)mm,the distances of male and female between the axillary.nerve and the coracoid process were respectively(44,76±5.24)mm and(41.30±4.26)mm,the width of the axillary nerve of male and female were respectively(5.38±0.56)mm and(4.46±0.64)mm,the heigh and width of the deltoid muscle only insertion of male were respectively(52.02±5.08)mm and(23.46±4.24)mm,the heigh and width of the deltoid muscle only insertion of female were respectively(48.86±4.36)mm and(20.56+3.78)mm.Conclusion:The distrib.ution of the axillary nerve in the deltoid is a horizontal region,witch is a significant accordance for selecting the appropriate surgical approach.