Background: Variations of the brachial plexus are common and a better awareness of the variations is of crucial importance to achieve successful results in its surgical procedures. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the anatomical variations of the brachial plexus in adult cadavers.   Methods: Bilateral upper limbs of 32 fresh cadavers (21 males and 11 females) consecutively referre...

Background and objectives: We performed a prospective randomized double-blinded study evaluating if a reduced volume of local anesthetic would result in operative limb surgical anesthesia while decreasing motor paralysis during an ultrasound-guided supraclavicular nerve block. Current tendencies in clinical practice towards smaller injectate volumes during ultrasound-guided nerve block placemen...

Variations in the formation of the brachial plexus and in the course of its branches are not as uncommon as was once thought. A description of the abnormalities and complexities of the anatomy of the upper arm is very important with regard to surgical approaches. This case study reports a combined absence of musculocutaneous nerve associated with a third head of biceps brachii muscle in the lef...

In the dissection of a 79-year-old Chinese male cadaver, communications were established on both sides between the median and musculocutanous nerves. The musculocutaneous nerve (mcn) was the continuation of the lateral cord. After piercing the coracobrachialis muscle, the mcn gave rise to a communicating branch which directed downwards medially and ended in the median nerve (mn) at the level of...

Clavicle fractures are frequent injuries in athletes and midshaft clavicle fractures in particular are well-known injuries in Ironman triathletes. In 2000, Auzou et al. described the mechanism leading to an isolated truncular paralysis of the musculocutaneous nerve after a shoulder trauma. It is well-known that nerve palsies can lead to an atrophy of the associated muscle if they persist for mo...

Distal nerve transfers have contributed enormously to the strategies in brachial plexus reconstruction. They help to overcome the pitfalls of nerve grafting from proximal root (or peripheral nerve) stumps and work, effectively, as tendon transfers. Although use of the intercostals for transfer to the musculocutaneous nerve was first described, using a graft of the ulnar nerve, in the 1960s, tra...