[Study on the intraneural topography of the brachial plexus]

To accurately determine the intraneural topography at each level of the brachial plexus, the funicular pattern of the brachial plexus in 10 Japanese adult cadavers was investigated by microdissection and an intraneural topographic map at different levels of the brachial plexus was prepared. It was possible to identify the intraneural location of funiculi from the cord level to the distal level of the nerve root. At the cord level, the funiculi were very thin and the funicular pattern was complicated. At the level from the division to the root, some nerve fibers were mixed. The intraneural topographic map of the C5 nerve root appears to be most important for cable grafting. In the C5 nerve root, the funiculus of the suprascapular nerve was located cranially, funiculi containing the musculocutaneus nerve anteriorly and those containing the axillary nerve posteriorly.