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Shoulder girdle Anatomy
Shoulder girdle Anatomy
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The shoulder girdle, also known as the pectoral girdle, is a flexible bony structure that connects the upper limbs to the trunk.
It is made up of two bones on each side of the body:
the clavicle (collarbone),
the scapula (shoulder blade).
At the front of the body, the clavicles are connected to the manubrium, the upper part of the sternum.
The clavicle
The clavicle
The clavicle, or collarbone, is a long, curved bone you can feel under your skin from your neck to your shoulder.
It connects the upper arm to the central part of your skeleton and works with the scapula (shoulder blade) to support shoulder movement.
The scalpula
The scalpula
The scapula, also called the shoulder blade, is connected to the rest of the skeleton by the clavicle (collarbone). The shoulder blade is not directly attached to the spine or ribs.
Movements of the scapula help a lot with moving the upper arm. The scapula connects to the humerus (upper arm bone) at the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and to the clavicle at the acromioclavicular joint.
The scapula helps link the arm to the body.
It is a flat, triangle-shaped bone and provides space for many muscles to attach, in fact, about 17 muscles connect to the scapula!
Joints of the shoulder girdle
The bones of the shoulder girdle work together to form four important joints: The SC joint, The scapulothoracic joint , The glenohumeral joint, and The AC joint
The sternoclavicular (SC) joint
The SC joint connects the inside end of the clavicle to the manubrium (top part of the breastbone or sternum). It works like a ball-and-socket joint, allowing the shoulder to move in many directions.
This joint also gets support from the first rib's cartilage. It’s the only joint that directly links your arm to your main skeleton.
The scapulothoracic joint
This isn’t a true joint with bones touching. It’s where the front of the scapula moves along the back of the rib cage. Muscles like the trapezius, rhomboids, serratus anterior, and pectoralis minor control its movement.
It helps the shoulder move up, down, forward, backward, and rotate. This joint is important for full shoulder motion.
The glenohumeral (shoulder) joint
This is the main shoulder joint where the head of the humerus (upper arm bone) fits into the glenoid cavity of the scapula. It's a ball-and-socket joint with a very wide range of motion. It’s supported by a loose joint capsule and ligaments, including: Transverse humeral ligament, Coracoacromial ligament, and Glenohumeral ligaments.
The acromioclavicular (AC) joint
The AC joint connects the acromion (part of the scapula) to the outer end of the clavicle. Several ligaments hold this joint together, including: Acromioclavicular ligament, Trapezoid ligament, Conoid ligament, and Coracoclavicular ligament.
These ligaments help keep the joint stable.
Need a recap? Take a look at the shoulder girdle anatomy notes.
Need a recap? Take a look at the shoulder girdle anatomy notes.
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References
References
Gray, H. (2009). Anatomy of the human body, part 1 (LibriVox Volunteers, Narr.) [Audiobook]. LibriVox. https://librivox.org/anatomy-of-the-human-body-part-1-by-henry-gray/ (Original work published 1858; 1918 ed.)
J Gordon Betts, Desaix, P., Johnson, E., Johnson, J. E., Korol, O., Kruse, D., Poe, B., Wise, J., Womble, M. D., & Young, K. A. (2013). Anatomy & physiology. Openstax College, Rice University. https://openstax.org/details/books/anatomy-and-physiology
Based on OpenStax, Anatomy and Physiology (2013), licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology/pages/1-introduction.
Content paraphrased; adaptations were made.
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