Question

You are in the emergency room when a patient is brought in, the loser in a street fight. He has received a stab wound about 1.5 cm long in the right side of the chest about 1.5 cm below and 1 cm medial to the coracoid process of the scapula. He has lost a lot of bright red blood from a large (~1.2 cm in diameter) severed artery found deep at this location. Intravenous fluids are immediately administered and a surgeon is called in to repair the artery. He begins by making an incision through the skin and subcutaneous tissue just below the clavicle, then cuts the clavicular head of the pectoralis major muscle and retracts it downward to obtain sufficient exposure of the area. He next encounters a partially severed muscle running downward and medially from the coracoid process. He divides the remaining fibers of the muscle and has you retract it downward. This exposes a bloody fat-filled space full of vessels and nerves.

The muscle running downward and medially from the coracoid process which was partially severed was the:
A. Coracobrachialis
B. Pectoralis minor
C. Long head of the biceps
D. Subclavius
E. Subscapularis

Answer 1

The pectoralis minor was the partially severed muscle encountered during surgery to repair a severed artery in the axilla following a stab wound.

Step-by-step explanation:

The muscle that was partially severed and runs downward and medially from the coracoid process is the pectoralis minor. This muscle stabilizes the scapula by drawing it anteriorly and downward against the thoracic wall. It originates from the anterior surface of the third to fifth ribs and inserts on the coracoid process of the scapula. During the surgical procedure described, after dividing the clavicular head of the pectoralis major muscle and retracting it, the exposure of a bloody fat-filled space indicates entry into the axilla, where the important vessels and nerves for the upper limb are located, including the axillary artery which was presumably the severed vessel.