The T5 dermatome is a band of skin wrapping around the chest from the spine to the front midline at about the level of the fifth intercostal space. It lies just below the nipple line, between the T4 and T6 bands. Its skin is supplied by the cutaneous branches of the fifth intercostal nerve.
| Nerve root | T5 |
|---|---|
| Area | Band around the chest at about the fifth intercostal space |
| How to test | Light touch and pinprick are compared side to side at the ISNCSCI key sensory point: in the midclavicular line at the fifth intercostal space, midway between the T4 and T6 points. |
| Nerve Supply | Fifth intercostal nerve (lateral and anterior cutaneous branches); Posterior rami of thoracic spinal nerves |
Carries touch, pain and temperature sensation from this strip of skin to the spinal cord through the T5 dorsal root.
Thoracic dermatomes are best known from shingles, which produces a one-sided painful rash that stops at the midline. Thoracic disc herniations are rare, so a sensory level on the chest should raise concern for spinal cord compression by tumour, infection or a disc. Dermatome maps differ between sources (Foerster, Keegan and Garrett, and modern evidence-based maps disagree), and neighbouring dermatomes overlap, so borders are approximate.
Reactivated varicella zoster virus in the T5 dorsal root ganglion causes a painful band of blistering rash confined to this dermatome, sometimes followed by postherpetic neuralgia.
Compression of the cord at or above this level from tumour, abscess or disc can produce a sensory level on the chest with leg weakness.
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