Objectives:

Shoulder pain is an important and frequently encountered clinical condition. One of the important causes of the shoulder pain is related with the rotator cuff muscles. Thus, the suprascapular nerve block is used as a treatment option for chronic shoulder pain. In this study, we aimed to evaluate acromion as a landmark for suprascapular nerve blocks.

Methods:

Distance of acromion to suprascapular notch and spinoglenoid notch was measured in dry bones. According to the obtained mean distances, nerve block was applied with colored dye to the shoulder region of a 72-years old male cadaver. After dissection of the shoulder region, distribution of the dye was evaluated in terms of nerve block.

Results:

Injection point for suprascapular notch was found to be 4.37 cm anterior and 5.3 cm medial to lateral tip of the acromion. Injection point for spinoglenoid notch was found to be 4.45 cm inferior and 4.42 cm medial to lateral tip of the acromion. Cadaveric dissection revealed that nerve block was successful.

Conclusions:

Acromion was found to be as an alternative landmark in terms of suprascapular nerve block and isolated infraspinatus muscle block.

Keywords: Shoulder pain, suprascapular nerve block, acromion