The lateral sural cutaneous nerve of the

lumbosacral plexus The anterior divisions of the lumbar nerves, sacral nerve A spinal nerve is a mixed nerve, which carries motor, sensory, and autonomic signals between the spinal cord and the body. In the human body there are 31 pairs of spinal nerves, one on ...

supplies the skin on the posterior and lateral surfaces of the

leg A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts". The combination of movements at all joints can be modeled as a single, linear element ca ...

. The lateral sural cutaneous nerve originates from the

common fibular nerve The common fibular nerve (also known as the common peroneal nerve, external popliteal nerve, or lateral popliteal nerve) is a nerve in the lower leg that provides sensation over the posterolateral part of the leg and the knee joint. It divides at ...

''(L4-S2)'' and is the terminal branch of the

Sural communicating branch

One branch, the '' sural communicating nerve'' or colloquially known as the ''peroneal anastomotic'' (n. communicans fibularis), arises from

sciatic The sciatic nerve, also called the ischiadic nerve, is a large nerve in humans and other vertebrate animals which is the largest branch of the sacral plexus and runs alongside the hip joint and down the lower limb. It is the longest and widest s ...

origins near the head of the

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

, crosses the lateral head of the

gastrocnemius The gastrocnemius muscle (plural ''gastrocnemii'') is a superficial two-headed muscle that is in the back part of the lower leg of humans. It runs from its two heads just above the knee to the heel, a three joint muscle (knee, ankle and subtalar ...

to the middle of the leg, and joins with the

medial sural cutaneous nerve The medial sural cutaneous nerve ''(L4-S3)'' is a sensory nerve of the leg. It supplies cutaneous innervation the posteromedial leg. Structure The medial sural cutaneous nerve originates from the posterior aspect of the tibial nerve of the ...

to form the

sural nerve The sural nerve ''(L4-S1)'' is generally considered a pure cutaneous nerve of the posterolateral leg to the lateral ankle. The sural nerve originates from a combination of either the sural communicating branch and medial sural cutaneous nerve, or ...

Variation

Another branch observed, that is mentioned in passing in previous literature is the medial branch of the lateral sural cutaneous nerve. In a 2021 study b
Steele et al.
''(

Annals of Anatomy ''Annals of Anatomy'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering the field of anatomy, published by Elsevier under its "Urban and Fischer" imprint. It was established in 1886 by Karl von Bardeleben and until 1991 was published under the title ...

)'', a medial branch of the lateral sural cutaneous nerve was observed in approximately 36% of lower extremities dissected (''n''=208) with an average diameter of 1.47 ± 0.655 mm with a 95% CI of 1.31 – 1.625 mm. This branch was noted to travel in a subcutaneous plane over the

to the posteromedial aspect of the

ankle The ankle, or the talocrural region, or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular join ...

. ''"The lateral branch of the LSCN traveled the expected course over the fibula in the superficial fascia of the posterolateral compartment of the leg, while the medial branch terminates into the lower posteromedial aspect of ankle."''
As shown in Figure 2. of Steele et al. "Anatomy of the sural nerve complex: Unaccounted anatomic variations and morphometric data" DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aanat.2021.151742]

Additional images

File:RobertSteele SuralNerve GraysMODified.png , Most common formation (type 1) of the sural nerve depicted in the popliteal fossa File:sural nerve formation.jpg , Most common formation of the sural nerve by Steele et al. File:Type 1-8 SN formation.jpg, 8 documented types of sural nerve formation File:Gray826and831.PNG, Areas of skin sensation supplied by nerves in the leg. File:Gray834.svg, Areas of skin supplied by nerves of the leg - the sural nerve supplies the lateral ankle. File:Gray835.png, Deep nerves of the front of the leg. File:Gray836.png, Course of nerves at the bottom of the foot.

References

External links

Referenced papers:
Steele et al. 208 sample cadaveric review 2021

Ramakrishnan et al.systematic review on sural nerve formation 2015
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Anatomy web references

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{{Authority control Nerves of the lower limb and lower torso