2017 Volume 16 Pages 70-76
Intramuscular injections are often administered into the deltoid muscle for reasons of the clinical convenience, despite the risk of axillary nerve damage. Although previous studies have attempted to use morphological data obtained from axillary nerve dissections to identify safe sites for intramuscular injections in deltoid muscles, they have not been able to validate the application of data from dissections in live subjects. This study compared measurements taken from 44 dissections performed up to the present using magnetic resonance imaging to measure the distance between the acromion and posterior humeral circumflex artery running along the axillary nerve in live subjects in order to investigate the applicability of the dissection body. Measurements taken from five live subjects were similar to measurements from dissections, suggesting that dissection data can be utilized as a means for determining safe injection sites.
