T2 spinal nerve

Nervus spinalis T2

NervousNervesThoraxLeft and right

View left in 3D View right in 3D

What it is
The T2 spinal nerve leaves the spinal canal between T2 and T3. Its sensory (dorsal) and motor (ventral) roots meet just beyond the dorsal root ganglion; the short mixed nerve then splits into a small dorsal ramus for the back muscles and skin and a larger ventral ramus, which becomes the 2nd intercostal nerve.
Function
Carries motor fibres to the muscles of its segment (myotome) and sensation back from its strip of skin (dermatome): the armpit and inner upper arm.
Size
About 2-3 mm thick; the mixed nerve is only ~1 cm long before it divides
Clinical note
Its intercostobrachial branch supplies the armpit and is often cut in axillary breast surgery, leaving the inner arm numb.

Nearby nervous structures 1st intercostal nerve, 2nd intercostal nerve, 3rd intercostal nerve, T1 spinal nerve, T3 spinal nerve, T4 spinal nerve, T5 spinal nerve, T6 dorsal root ganglion, T6 spinal nerve, T7 spinal nerve