The nerve distribution for ankle and foot block anesthesia

Abstract

Foot surgery under ankle and forefoot block is gaining popularity as the benefits of regional anesthesia becomes more obvious. For a sufficient anesthesia of the foot, superficial and deep peroneal, sural, saphenous and tibial- nerves should be blocked. In this study these nerves mentioned above are dissected in the lower extremities of 20 formalin ernbelmed cadavers and 5 freshly amputated specimens and their anatomical distributions are studied. Landmarks which may help for locating these neryes are described. Although superficial peroneal, sural and saphenous nerves are subcutaneous and can be blocked with a skin wheat, others, tibial- and deep peroneal, are beneath fascial layers and precise knowledge of their anatomy is required for a successful block.