Entrapment of the distal suprascapular nerve. An anatomical study.

Twenty-five shoulders were dissected in cadavers in order to observe the presence of the inferior transverse ligament, the spinoglenoid ligament, and its relationship to the spinoglenoid notch and the suprascapular nerve. The ligament was found to be absent in 50% of females and rudimentary in one female, but absent in only 13% of the male shoulders. The distance between the ligament and the bone, and from the ligament to the nerve was similar in males and females, but the variation was greater in males. These findings may explain the observation that distal suprascapular nerve entrapment occurs mostly in men.