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An anatomical study of the superior transverse scapular ligament of Jining population

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to determine the anatomical variations of the superior transverse scapular ligament (STSL) for better understanding the possible predisposing factors for suprascapular nerve entrapment.

Methods

The study was using fifty 10% formalin solution-fixed human cadaveric shoulders. After dissection of the suprascapular region, the length, medial width, lateral width and middle width of the suprascapular opening were measured for each STSL.

Results

The STSL displayed six types as: (1) band-shaped in 11 cases; (2) fan-shaped in 27 cases; (3) triangular-shaped in 5 cases; (4) linear type in 2 cases; (5) bifid in 1 case; (6) absent in 1 case. The ossified type of STSL was found in 3 cases. There were statistically significant differences in the length (P = 0.009), medial width (P = 0.001), lateral width (P = 0.029) of the three types of fan-shaped, band-shaped and triangular-shaped. However, there was no statistical difference in the middle width of the suprascapular opening of the three types (P = 0.340).

Conclusion

Knowing the morphological features and variations of the STSL is important for better understanding the anatomical conditions, which could be taken into consideration during open suprascapular operations or arthroscopic decompressions.

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Acknowledgements

The study was supported by the Innovative Training Program for College Students of Jining Medical University (no. cx2019101).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grade 2017 of Academy of Basic Medicine, Jining Medical University, Jining, Shandong, China

    Runyu Long, Nan Wang, Wentao Liu, Zhiyang Liu, Shihua Cheng, Chaotong Liu, Ji Wang & Mingqi Ding

  2. Grade 2018 of Academy of Basic Medicine, Jining Medical University, Jining, Shandong, China

    Xin Zhang, Xu Geng & Ze Tian

  3. Department of Anatomy, Academy of Basic Medicine, Jining Medical University, Jining, Shandong, China

    Jing Li

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  1. Runyu Long
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Contributions

RL and NW: study design/data collection/writing the manuscript; WL, ZL, SC, XZ, XG and ZT: data collection/cadaver dissection; CL, JW, MD: data analysis/figure processing; JL: study design/manuscript revision. All authors read and approved the final manuscript prior to submission. RL and NW contributed equally to this work.

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Correspondence to Jing Li.

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Long, R., Wang, N., Liu, W. et al. An anatomical study of the superior transverse scapular ligament of Jining population. Surg Radiol Anat 41, 1345–1349 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-019-02330-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-019-02330-8

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