High-Resolution Ultrasound of Small Clinically Relevant Nerves Running Across the Posterior Triangle of the Neck

Riccardo Picasso; Federico Zaottini; Federico Pistoia; Maribel Miguel Perez; Andrea Klauser; Federica Rossi; Angelo Schenone; Alberto Stefano Tagliafico; Carlo Martinoli

doi:10.1055/s-0040-1710067

Seminars in Musculoskeletal Radiology, Inhaltsverzeichnis

Semin Musculoskelet Radiol 2020; 24(02): 101-112
DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1710067

Review Article

Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

High-Resolution Ultrasound of Small Clinically Relevant Nerves Running Across the Posterior Triangle of the Neck

Riccardo Picasso

¹Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), Università di Genova, Genova, Italy

²IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy

,

Federico Zaottini

¹Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), Università di Genova, Genova, Italy

²IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy

,

Federico Pistoia

¹Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), Università di Genova, Genova, Italy

²IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy

,

Maribel Miguel Perez

³Departamento de Patología y Terapéutica Experimental, Facultad de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud (Campus de Bellvitge), Unidad de Anatomía y Embriología Humana, Universitat de Barcelona, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain

,

Andrea Klauser

⁴Universitätsklinik für Radiologie, Medizinische Universität, Abteilung Rheuma- und Sportbildgebung, Innsbruck, Austria

,

Federica Rossi

¹Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), Università di Genova, Genova, Italy

²IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy

,

Angelo Schenone

⁵Department of Neurosciences, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetic and Maternal and Infantile Sciences (DINOGMI), University of Genova, Italy

,

Alberto Stefano Tagliafico

¹Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), Università di Genova, Genova, Italy

²IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy

,

Carlo Martinoli

¹Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), Università di Genova, Genova, Italy

²IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genova, Italy

› Institutsangaben

Abstract

With the advent of high-frequency ultrasound (US) transducers, new perspectives have been opened in evaluating millimetric and submillimetric nerves that, despite their dimensions, can be considered relevant in clinical practice. In the posterior triangle of the neck, the suprascapular, long thoracic, phrenic, supraclavicular, great auricular, lesser occipital, and transverse cervical nerves are amenable to US examination and the object of special interest because they may be involved in many pathologic processes or have a value as targets of advanced therapeutic procedures. The correct identification of these nerves requires a deep knowledge of local neck anatomy and the use of a complex landmarks-based approach with US. This article describes the anatomy and US technique to examine small but clinically relevant nerves of the posterior triangle of the neck (excluding the brachial plexus), reviewing the main pathologic conditions in which they may be involved.

Keywords

long thoracic nerve - phrenic nerve - spinal accessory nerve - supraclavicular nerves - suprascapular nerve

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Referenzen

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