Anatomical Study of the Sural Nerve Complex in Human Fetuses

Introduction: The posterolateral region of the leg and dorsolateral as well as the and medial region of the lateral side of the foot are usually described as innervated by the sural nerve. This nerve is of great importance in neurosurgery, plastic surgery and peripheral nerves grafts, having significant diagnostic value in tissue biopsy and neurophysiological assessment of several causes of peripheral neuropathy.
Objective: The present study aimed to study the anatomy of the sural complex in human fetuses, considering its occurrence frequency, type, level of formation and distribution of the sural nerve and other components of the sural nerve complex.
Materials and Methods: 40 lower extremities of 20 human fetuses, six males and 14 females with ages ranging from 22 to 36 weeks, were used. All fetuses were fixed in a 10% formaldehyde solution and dissected using dissecting instruments with the assistance of a 4X magnifying glass.
Results: The formation of sural nerve was found in 22 of the 40 lower limbs dissected and present in three of the five types described. The medial sural cutaneous nerve was the branche from the sural complex present in all cases.
Conclusions: Given the anatomical variations found in this study, it is possible to conclude that it is significantly difficult to establish an anatomical standard for the complex of the sural nerve. Therefore, this finding is worthy the attention of professionals who, from the clinical or surgical experimental viewpoint, deal with the components of this complex, specially the sural nerve.