Anatomy of the superficial peroneal nerve related to the harvesting for nerve graft

Abstract

The superficial peroneal nerve (SPN) is one of the two main branches of the common peroneal nerve, which become cutaneous nerve on the lateral side of distal leg and dorsum of foot. The use of SPN as nerve graft has been introduced; however, important data regarding the morphometric anatomy of this nerve and its branches, medial and intermediate dorsal cutaneous nerves (MDN and IDN, respectively) to support this application remain incomplete. Eighty-five legs of cadavers were dissected and the branching pattern was classified into Type 1 (penetration of the main trunk of SPN from the deep fascia) or Type 2 (separate penetration of the MDN and IDN). The length of SPN, MDN and IDN from the penetration points until before subsequent branching was measured. In addition, the penetration points were located by referring to the intermalleolar line and the lateral malleolus. Type 1 was found in the majority of specimens independent of gender (71.8%). Asymmetry in the branching pattern was observed in nine cases (20.9%). The average length of the SPN, MDN and IDN without branches was 7.7, 8.1 and 5.5 cm, respectively. The penetration points of the SPN, MDN and IDN were located 5.1, 7.6 and 5.5 cm above the intermalleolar line, respectively. These data are important for using the SPN as a graft.