Musculocutaneous nerve
Nervus musculocutaneus
NervousNervesArmLeft and right
View left in 3D View right in 3D
- What it is
- A branch of the lateral cord that pierces coracobrachialis, runs down between biceps and brachialis and emerges lateral to the biceps tendon at the elbow, where it continues as the lateral cutaneous nerve of the forearm.
- Function
- Motor to the three front-of-arm muscles (coracobrachialis, biceps, brachialis); sensation from the lateral side of the forearm.
- Size
- About 3 mm thick; ~20 cm in the arm plus ~20 cm of cutaneous branch
- Clinical note
- Rarely injured on its own; its loss weakens elbow flexion and supination and abolishes the biceps reflex. Heavy lifting can pinch its cutaneous branch under the biceps aponeurosis.