ROLE OF THE GLENOHUMERAL LIGAMENTS IN ACT IVE PROTECTION OF SHOULDER STABILITY

We harvested the joint capsule, the glenohumeral ligaments, and the co racohumeral ligaments of 8 fresh formalined shoulder specimen. We made use of the van Gieson technique and a special silver impregnation for staining peripheral axons according to Nowotny. The ligaments were cu t into slices with a thickness of 15 mu m. In total we performed 10000 cuts. We discovered axons in all ligaments. These axons had no relati on to vessels or vessel walls. Besides these axonal structures we dete cted type II mechanoreceptors (Pacini receptor). Clinical Significance : The neural structures discovered in the glenohumeral capsule are of clinical importance especially in consideration of the high account of recurrent shoulder dislocation and concomitant Bankart lesions. Recep tors located in the glenohumeral ligaments might control the stabilizi ng shoulder musculature. On this premises, rupture or detachment of th ese ligaments will lead to a loss of the feedback mechanism.