The T2 dermatome is a band across the upper chest and back that also extends into the axilla and the inner side of the upper arm. On the front of the chest it lies directly below C4. The intercostobrachial nerve carries its fibres into the arm.
| Nerve root | T2 |
|---|---|
| Area | Upper chest and upper back band, axilla and medial upper arm |
| How to test | Light touch and pinprick are compared side to side at the ISNCSCI key sensory point: at the apex of the axilla. |
| Nerve Supply | Second intercostal nerve; Intercostobrachial nerve; Medial cutaneous nerve of arm |
Carries touch, pain and temperature sensation from this strip of skin to the spinal cord through the T2 dorsal root.
Because T2 reaches the medial arm through the intercostobrachial nerve, cardiac pain and upper thoracic root pain can be felt down the inner arm. The intercostobrachial nerve is often injured during axillary lymph node surgery, leaving numbness of the inner upper arm. Dermatome maps differ between sources (Foerster, Keegan and Garrett, and modern evidence-based maps disagree), and neighbouring dermatomes overlap, so borders are approximate.
Damage during axillary dissection or breast surgery leaves numbness or burning pain in the axilla and inner upper arm.
Reactivated varicella zoster virus in the T2 dorsal root ganglion causes a painful band of blistering rash confined to this dermatome, sometimes followed by postherpetic neuralgia.
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