ABSTRACT
Background: Traditionally the axillary nerve innervates the Deltoid and the Teres minor(TM) muscle. Axillarynerve injuries are common in shoulder dislocation, fracture surgical neck of humerus, brachial plexus injuriesand neuropathies. Traumatic injuries of axillary nerve have also shown weakness of Long head of triceps and insurgical practice, the nerve to long head of triceps is utilized for nerve transfer to neurotise the deltoid muscle inpatients with axillary nerve injuries. Hence the aim of the study was to find out the prevalence of contribution ofaxillary nerve to the innervation of Long head of triceps brachii (LHT).Materials and Methods: Nine embalmed adult human cadavers (bilaterally) and twelve disarticulated upperextremities were dissected. Total of thirty upper extremities were dissected. The axillary nerve was observedemerging from the quadrangular space. Anterior and posterior branches of axillary nerve were noted. Themuscular branches to deltoid, TM and LHT were traced to their point of innervation. The focus was on the branchof axillary nerve supplying the LHT. The branching configuration was classified into three types. Type I- posteriorbranch of axillary nerve supplying the LHT, Type II- Branch to TM supplying the LHT and Type III- A branch from thebifurcation of anterior & posterior branch of axillary nerve supplying LHT.Results: The present study showed that axillary nerve innervated the LHT in 8 out of 30 limbs (26.66%). Amongstthese, in 4 limbs(50%) posterior branch of axillary nerve supplied the LHT(type I ), in 3 limbs(37.5%) branch to TMsupplied the LHT(type II) and in 1 limb(12.5%) a branch from the bifurcation of axillary nerve into anterior andposterior branch supplied the LHT( type III). It was also observed that in 2 (6.66%) specimens, axillary nerve wasthe only supply to LHT and in 6 (20%) specimens both axillary nerve & radial nerve supplied the LHT and in theremaining 22 (73.3%) specimens, only the radial nerve supplied the LHT.Conclusion: Awareness of the variation of axillary nerve supplying the LHT is important for surgeons,orthopaedicians and anaesthetists for surgical treatment of traumatic nerve injuries.
ABSTRACT
Background: Embryology forms an important part of Anatomy in medical curriculum. As a subject it is difficultfor the first year students. The aim of the study was to make the subject simple, to inculcate interest and to reachto different types of learners as possible and to assess the effect of various teaching methods on learning.Methods: First year medical students were taught Embryology using different methods over one academic yearby one faculty member. In addition to black board and power point as the main methods of teaching, supplementarymethods like videos, props, models, handouts & quiz were also used. These were compared on different parametersof teaching-learning process like conceptual understanding, recollection & long term memory, reproducibility &writing in exam, structure and sequence of events, drawing of diagrams, clinical application, overall effectivenessand fun in the process of learning. A comparison of different methods of teaching was done in the form a writtenfeedback questionnaire.Results: It was observed that 73.9% students preferred Black board, 21.73% preferred Power point and 4.34%opted for videos as the choice of method. The study also revealed that 76.08% of students preferred a combinationof different methods for the embryology lectures, where as 15.21% preferred only Black Board, 6.52% preferredonly Power Point and 2.17% of students preferred only Videos as the method for learning Embryology.Most of the parameters of teaching Embryology were better fulfilled by black board method specially drawing ofdiagrams (82.60% students). However for clinical application of the subject, power point (50.43% students) waspreferred. The students’ response revealed that Quiz was a fun loving method of learning (40%students), whereas(31.3%students) enjoyed videos on Embryology. The overall effectiveness of Black board was found to be (60.86%),Power point (18.2%), Videos (8.69%), Props (4.34%), Quiz (3.47%), Handouts (2.6%) and Models (1.73%).Conclusions: A multi-modal approach was made to facilitate and enhance the learning process of the subject. Thestudy revealed that blackboard was the most valued method for teaching-learning Embryology.