The spinal accessory nerve plexus, the trapezius muscle, and shoulder stabilization after radical neck cancer surgery

A clinical and anatomic study of the spinal accessory, the eleventh cranial nerve, and trapezius muscle function of patients who had radical neck cancer surgery was conducted. This study was done not only to document the indispensibility of the trapezius muscle to shoulder-girdle stability, but also to clarify the role of the eleventh cranial nerve in the variable motor and sensory changes occurring after the loss of this muscle. Seventeen male patients, 49-69 years of age, (average of 60 years of age) undergoing a total of 23 radical neck dissections were examined for upper extremity function, particularly in regard to the trapezius muscle, and for subjective signs of pain. The eleventh nerve, usually regarded as the sole motor innervation to the trapezius, was cut in 17 instances because of tumor involvement. Dissection of four fresh and 30 preserved adult cadavers helped to reconcile the motor and sensory differences in patients who had undergone loss of the eleventh nerve. The dissections and clinical observations corroborate that the trapezius is a key part of a "muscle continuum" that stabilizes the shoulder. Variations in origins and insertions of the trapezius may influence its function in different individuals. As regards the spinal accessory nerve, it is concluded that varying motor and sensory connections form a plexus with the eleventh nerve, accounting, in part, for the variations in motor innervation and function of the trapezius, as well as for a variable spectrum of sensory changes when the eleventh nerve is cut. For this reason, it is suggested that the term "spinal accessory nerve plexus" be used to refer to the eleventh nerve when it is considered in the context of radical neck cancer surgery.