• Pierre Laumonerie, Laurent Blasco, Meagan E Tibbo, Nicolas Bonnevialle, Marc Labrousse, Patrick Chaynes, and Pierre Mansat.
• Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Hôpital Pierre-Paul Riquet, Place du Docteur Baylac, Toulouse, France; Anatomy Laboratory, Faculty of Medicine, Toulouse, France. Electronic address: laumonerie.pierre@hotmail.fr.
• J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2019 Sep 1; 28 (9): 1788-1794.

BackgroundSensory innervation to the shoulder provided by the distal suprascapular nerve (dSSN) remains the subject of debate. The purpose of this study was to establish consensus with respect to the anatomic features of the sensory branches of the dSSN. The relevant hypothesis was that the dSSN would give off 3 sensory branches providing innervation to the posterior glenohumeral (PGH) capsule, the subacromial bursa, in addition to the coracoclavicular and acromioclavicular ligaments.MethodsThe division, course, and distribution of the sensory branches that originated from the dSSN and innervated structures around the shoulder joint were examined macroscopically by dissecting 37 shoulders of 19 fresh-frozen cadavers aged of 83.0 years (range, 74-98 years).ResultsThe 37 dSSN provided 1 medial subacromial branch (MSAb), 1 lateral subacromial branch (LSAb), and 1 PGH branch (PGHb) to the shoulder joint. This arrangement allowed for bipolar-MSAb and LSAb-innervation of the subacromial bursa, acromioclavicular (MSAb and LSAb) and coracoclavicular (MSAb) ligaments, as well as the PGH capsule (PGHb).ConclusionsThe dSSN provided 2 subacromial branches and 1 PGHb to the shoulder joint. This arrangement allowed for bipolar-MSAb and LSAb-innervation of the subacromial bursa, acromioclavicular and coracoclavicular ligaments, as well as the PGH capsule.Copyright © 2019 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board of Trustees. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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