Innervation of Subclavius Muscle: An Anatomical Study

This study was aimed to provide accurate parameters to localize the nerve endings for subclavius muscle belly and to investigate the basic information on nerve innervations on subclavius muscle. Twenty-two adult non-embalmed cadavers (7 males and 4 females) with a mean age of 68.7 years (range, 43-88 years) were enrolled for the present study. For measurements, the most prominent point of the sternal end of the clavicle (SEC) on anterior view and the most prominent point of the acromial end of the clavicle (AEC) were identified as the reference point. A line connecting the SEC and AEC was used as a reference line. Among all the measured points, 92.2 % of the points were gathered from 40 to 60 distances on the reference line. In one male specimen, both the sides of the nerve to the subclavius were merged with the phrenic nerve. It is further hypothesized that the basic anatomical results about the nerve branching pattern will be helpful in the clinical field.