Cutaneous innervation of the upper limbs
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Cutaneous innervation refers to the area of the skin which is supplied by a specific nerve.
Modern texts are in agreement about which areas of the skin are served by which nerves, but there are minor variations in some of the details. The borders designated by the diagrams in the 1918 edition of Gray's Anatomy, provided below, are similar but not identical to those generally accepted today.
Arm and shoulder
- Supraclavicular nerves (yellow)
- Axillary nerve (blue). Also Superior lateral cutaneous nerve of arm.
- Inferior lateral cutaneous nerve of arm - Near blue "axillary" area, but actually branches from radial nerve. Most modern sources distinguish the superior and inferior, but some still include a single "lateral brachial cutaneous nerve". )
- Intercostobrachial nerve (purple)
- Medial cutaneous nerve of arm (yellow) - labeled as "medial brachial cutaneous".
- Posterior cutaneous nerve of arm (pink) - not explicitly distinguished from that of Posterior cutaneous nerve of forearm on diagram, but is often distinguished in modern terminology
Forearm
- Lateral cutaneous nerve of forearm (purple) - labeled as "lat. antibrach. cut.". Branch of musculocutaneous nerve.
- Medial cutaneous nerve of forearm (green) - labeled as "medial antibrach. cutaneous". Branch of medial cord.
- Posterior cutaneous nerve of forearm (pink) - labeled as "dorsal antibrach. cut." Branch of radial nerve.
Hand
- Superficial branch of the radial nerve (yellow)
- Median nerve (pink)
- Superficial branch of ulnar nerve (blue)
External links
- Overview at luc.edu
- Overview at neuroguide.com
- Hand kinesiology at UK nerves/dermatome.htm - arms
- Anatomy at Dartmouth arteries-nerves%20UE/nerve7 - arms
Nerves of upper limbs (primarily): the brachial plexus (C5-T1) | |
|---|---|
| Supraclavicular | root (dorsal scapular, long thoracic) - upper trunk (suprascapular, to the subclavius) |
| Infraclavicular: lateral cord | lateral pectoral
musculocutaneous (lateral cutaneous of forearm) median/lateral root: anterior interosseous - palmar - recurrent - common palmar digital (proper palmar digital) |
| Infraclavicular: medial cord | medial pectoral
cutaneous: medial cutaneous of forearm • medial cutaneous of arm ulnar: muscular - palmar - dorsal (dorsal digital nerves) - superficial (common palmar digital, proper palmar digital) - deep median/medial root: see above |
| Infraclavicular: posterior cord | subscapular (upper, lower) • thoracodorsal
axillary (superior lateral cutaneous of arm) radial: muscular - cutaneous (posterior of arm, inferior lateral of arm, posterior of forearm) - superficial (dorsal digital nerves) - deep (posterior interosseous) |
| Other | cutaneous innervation of the upper limbs |
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .

