Hindlimb Sensory Innervation
| N.B. | | Use these links to print out labeled and unlabeled figures illustrating the cutaneous innervation of the hindlimb. You might wish to color code the labeled figures by nerve of origin (e.g., shades of blue for branches of the femoral n.) to assist you in learning, and then use the unlabeled figures to review and test yourself.
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I. Cutaneous innervation of the thigh and buttocks
- A. anterior thigh: cutaneous branches of femoral n.
- B. medial thigh: cutaneous branches of obturator (proximal) and femoral (distal)
- C. lateral thigh: lateral femoral cutaneous n. from lumbar plexus
- D. posterior thigh: posterior femoral cutaneous n. from sacral plexus
- E. buttocks: cluneal nerves
- 1. medial: dorsal rami of S1-3
- 2. lateral: dorsal rami of L1-3
- 3. inferior: branches of posterior femoral cutaneous n. (ventral rami)
II. Cutaneous innervation of the leg
- A. lateral - lateral sural cutaneous n. (branch of common fibular (peroneal) n.)
- B. medial - saphenous n. (br of femoral n.)
- C. posterior - sural n.(predominantly tibial with contribution from common fibular n.)
- D. heel - cutaneous branches of tibial n.
III. Cutaneous innervation of the foot
- A. dorsum: superficial fibular (peroneal) n. except for the area between digits 1 and 2 which is innervated by the deep fibular (peroneal) n.
- B. planta: The tibial nerve divides posteroinferior to the medial malleolus into the medial and lateral plantar nerves. The lateral plantar nerve supplies lateral sole and lateral 1-1/2 digits and medial planter nerve supplies medial sole and medial 3-1/2 digits. The sole of the heel is innervated by cutaneous branches of the tibial n.
IV. Hindlimb dermatomes (segmental innervation)
- A. In these figures ( labeled and unlabeled ) the heavy lines indicate borders with minimal sensory overlap (typically representing boundaries of non-adjacent segments) whereas the lighter lines indicate borders involving considerable overlap (typically of adjacent segments).
