Serratus anterior at a glance
- What it is
- A broad muscle on the side of the thorax that holds the scapula against the chest wall.
- Location
- Originates from the outer surfaces of the upper eight or nine ribs and inserts along the costal surface of the medial border of the scapula.
- Function
- Protracts the scapula and rotates it upward, allowing arm elevation above the horizontal.
- Body system
- Muscular · paired (left and right)
- FMA ID
- FMA13398 (Foundational Model of Anatomy)
Key facts
- Innervation: long thoracic nerve (C5–C7)
- Blood supply: lateral thoracic and thoracodorsal arteries
Clinical relevance
Long thoracic nerve injury causes a winged scapula.
Structures next to the serratus anterior
The nearest named structures in the 3D model, measured from the centre of each part:
- Sixth rib · skeletal
- Superior lingular bronchial tree · respiratory
- Thoracodorsal artery · cardiovascular
- Fifth rib · skeletal
- Inferior pulmonary vein · cardiovascular
- Seventh rib · skeletal
- Iliocostalis thoracis · muscular
- Teres major · muscular
- Subscapularis · muscular
- Inferior lingular bronchial tree · respiratory
References
- Foundational Model of Anatomy: Serratus anterior (FMA13398). EMBL-EBI Ontology Lookup Service.
- OpenStax. Anatomy and Physiology 2e, §11.2 Naming Skeletal Muscles. Rice University, 2022.
- Mitsuhashi N. et al. (2009). BodyParts3D: 3D structure database for anatomical concepts. Nucleic Acids Research 37, D782–D785. Data © The Database Center for Life Science, CC BY 4.0.
Related anatomy
Explore the whole body in the interactive 3D human anatomy model, or browse the A–Z list of human structures.