Posterior Surface Of The Scapula, Posterior View

Description

Scapula posterior (dorsal) surface anatomy is centered on the scapular spine, which runs obliquely from the medial border toward the lateral angle and expands laterally into the acromion. Superior to the spine, the supraspinous fossa occupies the upper posterior blade, while the larger infraspinous fossa lies inferior and lateral, bounded by the spine superiorly and the thickened lateral border near the glenoid region. The superior angle sits at the superomedial corner, the inferior angle marks the distal point of the bone, and the medial (vertebral) border forms a long, straight margin oriented toward the thorax. Key landmarks are crisp. For teaching and clinical reference, the posterior scapula is where surface anatomy meets biomechanics: the spine and acromion frame the subacromial space, and the fossae provide broad origins for supraspinatus and infraspinatus, two tendons routinely involved in rotator cuff tendinopathy and tears. The lateral end of the spine near the spinoglenoid region is also a practical landmark when discussing suprascapular nerve entrapment, where a paralabral cyst can selectively weaken infraspinatus by compressing the nerve near the spinoglenoid notch. Fracture patterns of the scapular body and spine, as well as posterior shoulder surgical exposures, are easier to orient when the borders, angles, and ridge-like spine are presented without distracting soft tissue. Orthopaedic and sports medicine lectures can pair this illustration with rotator cuff anatomy, scapular dyskinesis, and acromial morphology discussions, while gross anatomy and kinesiology courses can use it to test bony landmarks and muscle attachment mapping. Medical publishers will also find it well-suited for atlases and operative approach figures that need a posterior bony reference for the shoulder girdle and thorax. Anatomical accuracy verified by SciePro's Medical Advisory Board.