Ultrasound aspects of sural nerve: Injuries

Damage to the sural nerve can cause sensory injuries, ranging from numbness to severe neuropathic pain. Conditions like ankle arthrosis and rheumatoid arthritis can compress the nerve, leading to pain and numbness. Sural nerve entrapment, although rare, can result in chronic calf pain, especially in athletes. Tumors, ganglia, and neurogenic tumors can also compress the nerve, causing various symptoms. Trauma, surgery, and vascular disorders may also lead to sural nerve injury. Ultrasound is useful for diagnosing these conditions but has limitations, such as difficulty in detecting muscle edema or in visualizing the nerve in certain patients. The purpose of this article is to describe and illustrate most injuries of the sural nerve, as seen on ultrasound, which is a practical and economical imaging method.