Three weeks after a right axillary lymph node dissection, a 48-year-old woman notices she cannot pull a heavy drawer towards her body and has difficulty rolling over in bed using that arm. Shoulder abduction and elevation are normal. Which nerve was injured?

• A Long thoracic nerve
• B Medial pectoral nerve
• C Lower subscapular nerve
• D Thoracodorsal nerve ✓

Explanation

The thoracodorsal nerve (C6-C8) runs on the posterior axillary wall with the subscapular vessels and supplies latissimus dorsi, the powerful adductor and internal rotator used in pulling movements. The long thoracic nerve supplies serratus anterior, whose loss causes winging on pushing, not weakness of pulling, which excludes option A.

Reference: Snell's Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.