The medial sural cutaneous nerve ''(L4-S3)'' is a

sensory nerve A sensory nerve, or afferent nerve, is a general anatomic term for a nerve which contains predominantly somatic afferent nerve fibers. Afferent nerve fibers in a sensory nerve carry sensory information toward the central nervous system (CNS) fr ...

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 ...

. It supplies

cutaneous Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation. Other animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have different d ...

innervation A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of nerve fibers (called axons) in the peripheral nervous system. A nerve transmits electrical impulses. It is the basic unit of the peripheral nervous system. A nerve provides a common pathway for the e ...

the posteromedial leg.

Structure

The medial sural cutaneous nerve originates from the posterior aspect of the

tibial nerve The tibial nerve is a branch of the sciatic nerve. The tibial nerve passes through the popliteal fossa to pass below the arch of soleus. Structure Popliteal fossa The tibial nerve is the larger terminal branch of the sciatic nerve with root val ...

of the sciatic nerve. It descends between the two heads of the

gastrocnemius muscle 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 subtala ...

. Around the middle of the back of the

, it pierces the

deep fascia Deep fascia (or investing fascia) is a fascia, a layer of dense connective tissue that can surround individual muscles and groups of muscles to separate into fascial compartments. This fibrous connective tissue interpenetrates and surrounds the m ...

to become superficial. It unites with the

lateral sural cutaneous nerve The lateral sural cutaneous nerve of the lumbosacral plexus supplies the skin on the posterior and lateral surfaces of the leg. The lateral sural cutaneous nerve originates from the common fibular nerve''(L4-S2)'' and is the terminal branch of t ...

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 ...

Morphometric properties

According to a large cadaveric study in which 208 sural nerves were dissected in their native position (b
Steele et al.
the medial sural cutaneous nerve was consistently present in most lower extremities. This information aligns with other research as well. Only one sample in Steele et al. did not contain a medial sural cutaneous nerve. The diameter (at the medial sural cutaneous nerve origin) is found to be 2.74mm ± 0.93 (2.62–2.86) in 207 samples
Two new variations
(as of 2021) of the sural nerve complex were observed where the MSCN is observed to travel to the lateral ankle and provides the branches for the lateral calcaneal nerves of the lateral ankle. Normally the sural nerve serves this purpose.

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