Surgical neck of the humerus the skin over a small part of the lateral shoulder. Surgical neck of the humerus The surgical neck of the humerus is a constriction below the tubercles of the greater tubercle and lesser tubercle, and above the Deltoid Tuberosity. It is much more frequently fractured than the anatomical neck of the humerus. A fracture in this area is most likely to cause damage to the axillary nerve and posterior circumflex humeral artery. Damage to the axillary nerve affects function of the teres minor and deltoid muscles, resulting in loss of abduction of arm (from 15-90 degrees), weak flexion, extension, and
Supracondylar humerus fracture should be used to immobilise the elbow at 20 to 30 degrees flexion in order to prevent further injury of the blood vessels and nerves while doing X-rays. Splinting of fracture site with full flexion or extension of the elbow is not recommended as it can stretch the blood vessels and nerves over the bone fragments or can cause impingement of these structures into the fracture site. Depending on the child's age, parts of the bone will still be developing and if not yet calcified, will not show up on the X-rays. The capitulum of the humerus is the first