Anatomical Variations of the Musculocutaneous and Median Nerves: A Case Report

Abstract

The musculocutaneous nerve is a large terminal branch of the lateral cord of the brachial plexus. It passes under the pectoralis minor and penetrates the coracobrachialis muscle, descending between the biceps brachii and brachialis muscles in the arm. After dissection in upper extremities in a 28-year-old male cadaver, the median and musculocutaneous nerve were found to have variations on the right side where the musculocutaneous nerve formed communications with the median nerve. The median nerve innervated muscles of the front of the arm in this cadaver. In addition, the musculocutaneous nerve did not pierce the coracobrachialis muscle on the right side. Knowledge of these variations is extremely important when planning a surgery in the region of axilla.

Keywords

• brachial plexus
• musculocutaneous nerve
• median nerve