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It innervates the muscles of the anterior compartment of the leg, which are the tibialis anterior, extensor digitorum longus, fibularis tertius, and extensor hallucis longus. The deep peroneal nerve turns medially and passes deep to the muscles of the anterior compartment of the leg as it descends into the foot.
Compartments of leg innervation skin#
It produces several motor branches that innervate the fibularis longus and fibularis brevis muscles and several cutaneous branches that innervate the skin of the lateral leg and dorsum of the foot. The superficial peroneal nerve descends along the lateral leg between the extensor digitorum longus and fibularis longus muscles and spreads into several branches in the top of the foot. One of the branches, the sural communicating branch, combines with a branch of the tibial nerve (the medial sural cutaneous branch) to form the sural nerve that descends into the foot parallel to the calcaneal (Achilles) tendon.įinally, the common peroneal nerve ends in the leg when it divides into two terminal branches: the superficial peroneal nerve and the deep peroneal nerve. It immediately produces another branch, the lateral sural cutaneous nerve, that descends the leg superficial to the lateral head of the gastrocnemius and forms several branches that spread through the lateral posterior leg. The common peroneal nerve next descends into the leg, passing between the tendon of the biceps femoris and the lateral head of the gastrocnemius muscle. In the popliteal fossa, it produces three articular branches that provide sensation to the tissues of the popliteal and patellar regions surrounding the knee. From its origin, the common peroneal nerve turns slightly laterally as it descends into the lateral side of the popliteal fossa. It arises from the end of the sciatic nerve in the distal thigh, where the sciatic nerve divides into the larger tibial nerve and smaller common peroneal nerve. The common peroneal nerve is a major terminal branch of the sciatic nerve that descends through the thigh, leg, and foot. Damage to the common peroneal nerve causes a lack of sensation in the leg and foot, as well as foot drop, a condition where the foot cannot be plantarflexed. It provides innervation to the skin of the lateral and leg, the top of the foot, and to many leg muscles. The common peroneal nerve, also known as the common fibular nerve, is one of the major nerves of the leg and foot.