The human leg, in the general word sense, is the entire lower limb of the human body, including the foot, thigh and even the hip or gluteal region. However, the definition in human anatomy refers only to the section of the lower limb extending from the knee to the ankle, also known as the crus or, especially in non-technical use, the shank. Legs are used for standing, and all forms of locomotion including recreational such as dancing, and constitute a significant portion of a person's mass. Female legs generally have greater hip anteversion and tibiofemoral angles, but shorter femur and tibial lengths than those in males.
The tibial nerve is a branch of the sciatic nerve. The tibial nerve passes through the popliteal fossa to pass below the arch of soleus.
The extensor digitorum brevis muscle is a muscle on the upper surface of the foot that helps extend digits 2 through 4.
The common fibular nerve is a nerve in the lower leg that provides sensation over the posteriolateral part of the leg and the knee joint. It divides at the knee into two terminal branches: the superficial fibular nerve and deep fibular nerve, which innervate the muscles of the lateral and anterior compartments of the leg respectively. When the common fibular nerve is damaged or compressed, foot drop can ensue.
The superficial peroneal nerve innervates the peroneus longus and peroneus brevis muscles and the skin over the antero-lateral aspect of the leg along with the greater part of the dorsum of the foot.
The deep peroneal nerve begins at the bifurcation of the common peroneal nerve between the fibula and upper part of the peroneus longus, passes infero-medially, deep to extensor digitorum longus, to the anterior surface of the interosseous membrane, and comes into relation with the anterior tibial artery above the middle of the leg; it then descends with the artery to the front of the ankle-joint, where it divides into a lateral and a medial terminal branch.
The popliteal fossa is a shallow depression located at the back of the knee joint. The bones of the popliteal fossa are the femur and the tibia. Like other flexion surfaces of large joints, it is an area where blood vessels and nerves pass relatively superficially, and with an increased number of lymph nodes.
The lateral cutaneous nerve of the thigh is a cutaneous nerve that innervates the skin on the lateral part of the thigh.
The lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve passes behind the cephalic vein, and divides, opposite the elbow-joint, into a volar and a dorsal branch.
The sural nerve is a sensory nerve in the calf region (sura) of the leg. It is made up of branches of the tibial nerve and common fibular nerve, the medial cutaneous branch from the tibial nerve, and the lateral cutaneous branch from the common fibular nerve. Once formed, the nerves runs down the mid calf to the ankle and along the skin from the mid-posterior popliteal fossa to just behind to the lateral malleolus and then under the malleolus and forward along the lateral aspect of the foot.
The superficial branch of the radial nerve passes along the front of the radial side of the forearm to the commencement of its lower third. It is a sensory nerve.
The medial plantar nerve is the larger of the two terminal divisions of the tibial nerve, which accompanies the medial plantar artery.
In the palm of the hand the median nerve is covered by the skin and the palmar aponeurosis, and rests on the tendons of the flexor muscles. Immediately after emerging from under the transverse carpal ligament the median nerve becomes enlarged and flattened and splits into a smaller, lateral, and a larger, medial portion.
The saphenous nerve is the largest cutaneous branch of the femoral nerve. It is a strictly sensory nerve, and has no motor function.
The medial dorsal cutaneous nerve passes in front of the ankle-joint, and divides into two dorsal digital branches, one of which supplies the medial side of the great toe, the other, the adjacent side of the second and third toes.
The lateral sural cutaneous nerve supplies the skin on the posterior and lateral surfaces of the leg. The lateral sural cutaneous nerve originates from the common peroneal nerve.
Cutaneous innervation refers to the area of the skin which is supplied by a specific nerve.
Cutaneous innervation refers to the area of the skin which is supplied by a specific nerve.
Dorsal digital nerves of foot are branches of the intermediate dorsal cutaneous nerve, medial dorsal cutaneous nerve, sural nerve and deep fibular nerve.
The proper plantar digital nerves of medial plantar nerve are nerves of the foot. They primarily arise from the medial plantar nerve's superficial and deep branches. The superficial branch of the medial plantar nerve turns into a proper digital nerve and is responsible for supplies the medial side of the great toe.
