Pectoralis minor muscle

Last revised by Henry Knipe on 28 Jun 2023

The pectoralis minor muscle is a muscle of the pectoral region lying deep to and completely covered by the pectoralis major muscle

It is an important anatomical landmark in two senses:

  1. it arbitrarily divides the axillary artery into 3 parts

  2. it arbitrarily divides the axillary lymph nodes into 3 levels

Summary

Variant anatomy

  • pre-fixed origin: ribs 2-4

  • post-fixed origin: ribs 4-6

  • absence: seen in Poland syndrome

ADVERTISEMENT: Supporters see fewer/no ads

Cases and figures

  • Figure 1: pectoral muscles (Gray's illustrations)
    Drag here to reorder.
  • Case 1: Poland syndrome
    Drag here to reorder.
  • Updating… Please wait.

     Unable to process the form. Check for errors and try again.

     Thank you for updating your details.