ABSTRACT

Due to the absence of literature on the brachial plexus in the African giant pouched rat, this study was conducted to examine the origin and distribution of the rodent’s brachial plexus. Ten adult animals obtained live from the wild were euthanized and fixed in 10 % formalin for 72 hours and then dissected. Cotton blocks soaked in 2 % hydrogen peroxide were placed on the ventral roots of the plexus to facilitate visualization and tracing. Photographs of the most representative specimens were obtained and schematic sketches were prepared to illustrate the results. The brachial plexus of the African giant pouched rat primarily originated from the ventral roots of the fifth (C5), sixth (C6), seventh (C7) and eighth (C8) cervical nerves and from the first thoracic nerve (T1). The cranial trunk was formed by the caudal branch of C5 and C6; two branches originating from C6 were bound to the cranial part of C7 to form the middle trunk; the caudal trunk formed by the rami ventralis of C7, C8 and T1. The peripheral nerve trunks were suprascapular (C5–C6), axillary (C6–C7), cranial subscapular (C5–C7), caudal subscapular (C6–C7), cranial pectoral (C5–C6), musculocutaneous (C7–C8), radial (C7–T1), median (C6–T1), ulna (C7–T1), long thoracic (C7–T1), lateral thoracic (C8–T1) and thoracodorsal (C6–T1) nerves. The present result, which has added to the available literature on brachial plexus of African indigenous rodents, was compared with similar reports from other rodents. Keywords: spinal nerves; brachial plexus; peripheral nerves; African giant pouched rat List of abbreviations C5= ventral root of 5th cervical nerve; C6 = ventral root of 6th cervical nerve; C7 = ventral root of 7th cervical nerve; C8 = ventral root of 8th cervical nerve; T1 = ventral root of 1st thoracic nerve