Several weeks after surgical dissection of her left axilla for the removal of lymph nodes for staging and treatment of her breast cancer, a 32-year-old woman was told by her general physician that she had "winging" of her left scapula when she pushed against resistance during her physical examination. She told the physician that she had also experienced difficulty lately in raising her right arm above her head when she was combing her hair. In a subsequent consult visit with her surgeon, she was told that a nerve was accidentally injured during the diagnostic surgical procedure and that this produced her scapular abnormality and inability to raise her arm normally. What was the origin of this nerve?
The long thoracic nerve was injured during the axillary dissection, resulting in paralysis of the serratus anterior. The serratus anterior is important in rotation of the scapula in raising the arm above the level of the shoulder. Its loss results in protrusion of the inferior angle ("winging" of the scapula), which is more obvious when one pushes against resistance. The long thoracic nerve arises from brachial plexus roots C5, C6, and C7. The upper trunk (C5,C6) supplies rotator and abductor muscles of the shoulder and elbow flexors. The posterior division of the middle trunk contains C7 fibers for distribution to extensor muscles; likewise, the posterior cord supplies extensors of the arm, forearm, and hand. The lateral cord (C5, C6, and C7) gives origin to the lateral pectoral nerve, the musculocutaneous nerve, and the lateral root of the median nerve. There is no sensory loss in the limb in this patient; injury to any of the other nerve elements listed here would be associated with specific dermatome losses.
The upper trunk of her brachial plexus
The posterior division of the middle trunk
Roots of the brachial plexus
The posterior cord of the brachial plexus
Upper Extremity