The dorsal scapular nerve (C5) supplies the levator scapulae and rhomboid muscles; it aids in elevation and adduction of the scapula toward the spinal column. A nerve lesion leads to lateral displacement of the vertebral border of the scapula and to rhomboid atrophy (difficult to detect).
What causes dorsal scapular nerve entrapment?
What Causes Dorsal Scapular Nerve Entrapment? The Dorsal Scapular Nerve sneaks out between the muscles that are right at the junction of your shoulder and neck. Overuse of these muscles can pinch the nerve causing irritation.
Where does the dorsal scapular nerve innervate?
The DSN is a motor nerve that innervates the levator scapulae, rhomboid major, and rhomboid minor muscles. These muscles work dynamically and collectively are considered periscapular stabilizing muscles. Individually they can retract and elevate the scapula.
What does dorsal scapular nerve entrapment feel like?
Typically, a person will complain of pain down the inside border of the scapula on one side, pain across the shoulder blades, lower neck, shoulder, and/or arm pain. It often feels like burning, sharp, stabbing, shooting, or knife-like pain and may feel like it’s actually underneath the shoulder blade.
How do you treat dorsal scapular nerve?
Pulsed radiofrequency lesioning of the dorsal scapular nerve is indicated in patients who show a positive response to the diagnostic dorsal scapular nerve block. This procedure can relieve symptoms associated with dorsal scapular nerve entrapment on a long-term basis.
How do you fix dorsal scapular nerve entrapment?
Active Release Technique has proven to be a very effective treatment method in breaking up those adhesions and trigger points around the neck and shoulder blade. While the entrapment most commonly occurs at the neck, treatment must also include looking at scapular movement when going through shoulder ranges of motion.
What nerve runs under the scapula?
ANATOMY. Dorsal scapular nerve originates from the fifth cervical nerve root, with a possible contribution of C6 and after its origin runs in close proximity of the upper trunk of the brachial plexus, before piercing the middle scalene muscle and passing posteriorly, beneath the levator scapula muscle.
What nerve is under the shoulder blade?
The suprascapular nerve provides motor innervation to the supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles. The nerve winds distally around the head of the scapula and is most susceptible to trauma at this site.
Can the dorsal nerve heal?
Conclusion: Neurolysis of the dorsal nerve to the penis at the inferior pubic ramus canal can be successful in relieving pain, and restoring sensation and erectile function in men who sustained an injury along the inferior pubic ramus.
How is dorsal scapular nerve entrapment diagnosed?
Signs and symptoms
- Abnormal and/or reduced shoulder movement.
- Pain around the lower neck, upper/mid back and shoulder region.
- Winging of the shoulder blade (i.e. tilting of the blade away from the rib cage)
- Difficulty with drawing shoulders backwards and together.
- Difficulty with raising the arm upwards to full range.
What causes dorsal nerve pain?
Possible causes of dorsal nerve root compression include: Traumatic injury. Degenerative disc disease. Herniated disc.
What is the difference between dorsal and ventral roots?
Dorsal and ventral roots join to form a spinal nerve. Spinal nerves bifurcate into dorsal rami , serving the dorsal part of the body and ventral rami, which form the nerves serving the ventral part of the body. The dorsal rami are much smaller than the ventral rami.
What nerve is cranial and spinal?
The optic-spinal nerve, which is cranial nerve II, is responsible for vision/eyesight. Except for olfactory, optic, and vestibulocochlear nerves, all other cranial nerves are mixed nerves, where they consist of both sensory and motor fibres.
What does the dorsal root of the spinal nerve contain?
The dorsal root ganglia contain the psuedo-unipolar cell bodies of the nerve fibres which travel from the ganglia through the root into the spinal cord. The lateral division of the dorsal root contains lightly myelinated and unmyelinated fibres of small diameter.
