A 24-year-old female basketball player is admitted to the emergency department after an injury to her shoulder. Radiographic examination reveals a shoulder dislocation. What is the most commonly injured nerve in shoulder dislocations?
The axillary nerve is a direct branch of the posterior cord and wraps around the surgical neck of the humerus to innervate the teres minor and the deltoid muscles. With this anatomic arrangement, the axillary nerve is tightly "tethered" to the proximal humerus. When the head of the humerus is dislocated, it often puts traction on the axillary nerve.
Axillary
Radial
Median
Ulnar
Upper Extremity