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Concept
Upper limb
Summary
The upper limbs or upper extremities are the forelimbs of an upright-postured tetrapod vertebrate, extending from the scapulae and clavicles down to and including the digits, including all the musculatures and ligaments involved with the shoulder, elbow, wrist and knuckle joints. In humans, each upper limb is divided into the arm, forearm and hand, and is primarily used for climbing, lifting and manipulating objects.
In formal usage, the term "arm" only refers to the structures from the shoulder to the elbow, explicitly excluding the forearm, and thus "upper limb" and "arm" are not synonymous. However, in casual usage, the terms are often used interchangeably. The term "upper arm" is redundant in anatomy, but in informal usage is used to distinguish between the two terms.
In the human body the muscles of the upper limb can be classified by origin, topography, function, or innervation. While a grouping by innervation reveals embryological and phylogenetic origins, the functional-topographical classification below reflects the similarity in action between muscles (with the exception of the shoulder girdle, where muscles with similar action can vary considerably in their location and orientation.
Shoulder girdle
The shoulder girdle or pectoral girdle, composed of the clavicle and the scapula, connects the upper limb to the axial skeleton through the sternoclavicular joint (the only joint in the upper limb that directly articulates with the trunk), a ball and socket joint supported by the subclavius muscle which acts as a dynamic ligament. While this muscle prevents dislocation in the joint, strong forces tend to break the clavicle instead. The acromioclavicular joint, the joint between the acromion process on the scapula and the clavicle, is similarly strengthened by strong ligaments, especially the coracoclavicular ligament which prevents excessive lateral and medial movements. Between them these two joints allow a wide range of movements for the shoulder girdle, much because of the lack of a bone-to-bone contact between the scapula and the axial skeleton.
Official source
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