Variation in rat sciatic nerve anatomy: implications for a rat model of neuropathic pain

We discovered a variation of rat sciatic nerve anatomy as an incidental finding during the anatomical exploration of the nerve lesion site in a rat neuropathic pain model. To confirm the composition and distribution of rat sciatic nerve, macroscopic anatomical investigation was performed in both left and right sides in 24 adult Sprague-Dawley rats. In all rats, the L4 and L5 spinal nerves were fused tightly to form the sciatic nerve. However, the L6 spinal nerve did not fuse with this nerve completely as a part of the sciatic nerve, but rather sent a thin branch to it in 13 rats (54%), whereas in the remaining 11 rats (46%), L6 ran separately along with the sciatic nerve. Also, the L3 spinal nerve sent a thin branch to the L4 spinal nerve or sciatic nerve in 6 rats (25%). We conclude that the components of sciatic nerve in Sprague-Dawley rats vary from L3 to L6; however, the major components are L4 and L5 macroscopically. This finding is in contrast to the standard textbooks of rat anatomy which describe the sciatic nerve as having major contributions from L4, L5, and L6.