Anatomical variation in the formation and course of median nerve: a cadaveric study

Background: Median nerve is one of the terminal branches of brachial plexus. Its formed by the union of medial root and lateral root coming respectively from medial and lateral cords of brachial plexus. Knowledge of anatomical variations of median nerve at origin and course is important in repair of traumatic injuries and surgical correction of brachial plexus injuries. These conditions need dissection of median nerve and knowledge of its variations.Methods: Present study included 53 cadavers and 106 upper limbs from our department of Anatomy. In this study, anatomically embalmed cadavers which were kept for routine dissection for under graduates were included. The present study we studied the anatomical variations in origin and course of median nerve in arm. We also studied the relation of median nerve with axillary and brachial arteries.Results: In this study we found origin of median nerve from 3 roots in 26.41%, 4 roots from 1.88%. Regarding the relation of median nerve with axillary artery we observed in 8.49% cadavers median nerve lies medial to axillary artery and in 0.94% Median nerve is passing along the lateral side of brachial artery without crossing the artery.Conclusions: This study shows high percentage of deviations from normal anatomy in origin of median nerve. Anatomical variation in brachial plexus and adjacent arteries knowledge is important for anatomist, plastic surgeon and vascular surgeons.