Anterior Ramus of Eighth Cervical Nerve
Ramus anterior nervi cervicalis octavi
Read moreQuick Facts
Origin: Eighth cervical nerve.
Course: In the neck, running laterally from the C7-T1 intervertebral foramen towards the space between the anterior and middle scalene muscles.
Branches: Inferior trunk of the brachial plexus.
Supply: Sensory and motor innervation. Sensory to the posterior arm, forearm, and entire hand. Motor to the latissimus dorsi, triceps brachii, and all the muscles of the forearm and hand.
Related parts of the anatomy
Origin
The anterior ramus of the eighth cervical nerve originates from the eighth cervical nerve.
Course
The anterior ramus of the eighth cervical nerve originates in the neck, lateral to the intervertebral foramen between the seventh cervical and first thoracic vertebrae. It runs laterally towards the space between the anterior and middle scalene muscles.
Branches
The anterior ramus of the eighth cervical nerve does not give rise directly to any branches. Together with the anterior ramus of the first thoracic nerve, it forms the inferior trunk of the brachial plexus.
Supplied Structures
The anterior ramus of the eighth cervical nerve carries both sensory and motor innervation. Broken down by nerve, the structures innervated by the eighth cervical ramus via the inferior trunk of the brachial plexus are as follows.
—Medial pectoral nerve supplies the pectoralis minor and pectoralis major muscles;
—Medial brachial cutaneous nerve supplies skin of the medial arm;
—Medial antebrachial cutaneous nerve supplies skin of the anterior and medial forearm;
—Ulnar nerve supplies skin of the medial surface of the hand and all intrinsic muscles of the hand and forearm flexors not innervated by the median nerve;
—Median nerve supplies skin of the lateral palmar surface of the hand and finger tips and all intrinsic muscles of the hand and forearm flexors not innervated by the ulnar nerve;
—Thoracodorsal nerve supplies motor innervation of the latissimus dorsi muscle;
—Radial nerve supplies sensory to skin of the posterolateral arm, posterior forearm, and posterolateral hand and motor innervation to the muscles of the posterior compartment of the arm and forearm.
