Connection between medial dorsal cutaneous nerve and saphenous nerve: case report

There are no data on the connection of the saphenous nerve (SN), located on the medial side of the foot, with the terminal branches of the superficial fibular nerve. The aim of this study is to reveal the variation that surgeons should pay attention to for anesthesia applied in foot surgeries.

In this study, the left foot of a 70-year-old female cadaver fixed with formalin was dissected. The distance to the medial malleolus and the incision line was recorded using digital caliper to determine the reference points in the resulting variation.

It was observed that a branch from the SN, which arose from the SN and proceeded anteriorly to the upper part of the medial malleolus and continued towards the dorsum of the foot, hooked with a branch from the medial dorsal cutaneous nerve (MDCN). The branches arising from this hook were distributed on the medial edge of the foot up to the proximal metatarsophalangeal joint I. The distance of this nerve connection to the medial malleolus is 91.14 mm, and the distance to the incision line is 15.76 mm.

It is suggested that the case presented as an unusual SN variation, which may affect the success of local anesthesia in invasive procedures to the medial part of the foot and could be considered in the evaluation of sensory loss after anteromedial surgical approach to the ankle, should be included in the classification of the cutaneous innervation pattern of the foot.