45

CASE 45


A 12-year-old girl fell off her bicycle and landed on her right arm. She ran into the house in obvious pain and found her mother, who drove her to the nearby medical clinic. The physician noticed that the right arm was shortened and swollen. Neurovascular function remained intact. Radiographs revealed a fracture of the midshaft of the humerus. The patient was treated by immobilizing her arm in a cast.



WHAT NEUROVASCULAR STRUCTURES ARE VULNERABLE TO INJURY IN A MIDSHAFT FRACTURE OF THE HUMERUS?


Fractures of the humerus produce bony spike fragments that may be injurious to surrounding tissue. In the midshaft region, these fragments may involve the radial nerve and/or vessels of the profunda brachii as they travel in the radial groove located on the posterior surface of the humerus (Fig. 6-11). The incidence of radial nerve injury secondary to a humeral shaft fracture is 16%.


image

FIGURE 6-11 Radial nerve in the arm.


(Drake R, Vogl W and Mitchell A: Gray’s Anatomy for Students. Churchill Livingstone, 2004. Fig. 7-68.)



WHAT MUSCLES ARE INNERVATED BY THE RADIAL NERVE AND WHAT ARE THEIR ATTACHMENTS AND ACTIONS?

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Jun 16, 2016 | Posted by in ANATOMY | Comments Off on 45

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