[Pathological study and clinical manifestations of median nerve variations in the carpal canal (author's transl)]

In autopsy material of 163 nonselected hands the motor branch of the N. medianus was examined regarding its origin and course. In 41 % of thenar branch was leaving the median nerve immediately distal to the carpal canal (extraligamentally). In 23 % the thenar nerve originated in the carpal canal without a particular relationship with the retinaculum flexorum (subligamentally). In 26 % the thenar branch was found penetrating the retinaculum flexorum (transligamentally). The results of the present investigation are compared with surgical findings on patients with carpal-tunnelsyndrome. As the incidence of the transligamental branch in the clinical study is much higher (50 %) than in my material, a possible relationship between the existence of a transligamental branch and the frequency of a carpaltunnelsyndrome is suggested.