At least eight centimeters of the posterior aspect of the proximal
region of the humeral diaphyseal cortex can be exposed through the interval
between the lateral head of the triceps and the deltoid muscle. No nerves
or major blood vessels are exposed in the dissection, although care must be
taken to protect the axillary and radial nerves during the exposure. The
safety of this approach was confirmed in fourteen upper extremities of
seven adult cadavera, and it was used successfully for an excisional biopsy
of an osteoid-osteoma in the proximal third of the posterior part of the
humeral cortex of an eleven-year-old boy.