Notes
Lower Extremity - Sensory Maps
Lower Extremity Sensory Maps
I. Lateral cutaneous nerve of the thigh (aka lateral femoral cutaneous nerve)
- Covers the lateral aspect of the thigh.
-Injury to the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve causes meralgia paresthetica.
II. Posterior cutaneous nerve of the thigh (aka posterior femoral cutaneous nerve)
- Covers the back of thigh.
III. Sural nerve
- Derived from both the common peroneal and tibial nerves / covers the posterior leg.
IV. The superficial peroneal nerve
- Covers the lower lateral aspect of the leg and the dorsum of the foot, except where the deep peroneal nerve covers the webbing between the great toe and second digit.
V. The femoral-derived saphenous nerve
- Covers the medial aspect of the leg and the instep (or medial surface) of the foot.
VI. Infrapatellar branch of the saphenous nerve
- This clinically important nerve covers the anterior knee; this small branch is sometimes injured during arthroscopic knee surgery.
- This tibial-derived nerve covers the heel.
VIII. The plantar nerves
Cover the remainder of the plantar foot.
- Medial plantar nerve
- Covers the medial foot.
- Lateral plantar nerve
- Covers the lateral foot.
IX. Anterior femoral cutaneous nerve
- Covers the anterior and medial thigh.
- Subdivided into the: intermediate and medial femoral cutaneous nerves.
- Covers a small sensory patch on the medial aspect of the thigh.
XI. Lateral and posterior cutaneous nerves of the thigh
- Direct branches from the lumbosacral plexus, whereas the anterior femoral cutaneous nerve is a branch of the femoral nerve.
XII. Lateral sural cutaneous nerve
- Derived from the common peroneal nerve, covers the upper lateral aspect of the leg.
XIII. Medial sural cutaneous branch (of the tibial nerve)
- Provides the upper sural coverage.
XIV. The distal sural branches
- Cover the lateral malleolus, lateral foot, and little toe.
- Comprise the lateral calcaneal and lateral dorsal cutaneous nerves.
Sensory coverage of the foot
Tibial and Plantar Nerves
- The tibial nerve covers the plantar foot and the peroneal nerve covers the dorsal foot.