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Anatomical study of the lateral collateral ligament and its circumference structures in the human knee joint

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Abstract

Thirty-six cadavers (55 sides) were used to observe the innervation of the lateral collateral ligament (LCL) and its circumference structures with gross anatomical and histological methods to clarify the cause of indistinct pain in the lateral part of the knee joint. The innervating branches of the LCL could be divided into three types: (1) from the muscular branch of the biceps femoris muscle at lower 1/3 level of the thigh; (2) from the common fibular nerve (CFN) at the higher level of the fossa poplitea; (3) from the CFN at the level of the caput fibular. Furthermore, the three branches could singly or plurally distribute to the LCL (six types). Two of the connecting tissue membranes surrounding the surface of LCL formed an incomplete sheath structure, and a shutting “gap” was observed between the two membranes. Fine peripheral nervous branches were also observed in the two of the membranes. On the other hand, three types of nerve endings in the LCL (Type Ι/Ruffini mechanoreceptor; Type ΙΙΙ/Golgi mechanoreceptor; Type ΙV/free nerve ending) were observed, and their presence was consistent with the ankle joint of humans. Therefore, the innervation of the two membranes (to form the shutting gap) in the surface of LCL may be associated with an indistinct pain when the knee joint is damaged.

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Abbreviations

Cr:

Cranial

CB:

Caput breve of biceps femoris

CF:

Caput of fibula

CFN:

Common fibular nerve

CFP:

N cutaneous femoris posterior

CL:

Caput longum of biceps femoris

EM:

Epicondylus medialis

IS:

N ischiadicus

L:

Lateral

LCL:

Ligamentum collateral lateral

N:

Nerve branch

PM:

Profundum membrane on the surface of LCL

SM:

Superior membrane on the surface of LCL

TBN:

N tibialis

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Y. Aizawa, and Mr. S. Takahashi (Iwate Medical University) for their technical advice. This work was supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Strategic Medical Science Research Center from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (2009–2013), and supported financially by the Advanced Medical Science Center of Iwate Medical University.

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  1. Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Iwate Medical University, 19-1 Uchimaru, Morioka, 020-8505, Japan

    Jun Yan, Wataru Sasaki & Jiro Hitomi

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  1. Jun Yan
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  2. Wataru Sasaki
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  3. Jiro Hitomi
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Correspondence to Jun Yan or Jiro Hitomi.

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Yan, J., Sasaki, W. & Hitomi, J. Anatomical study of the lateral collateral ligament and its circumference structures in the human knee joint. Surg Radiol Anat 32, 99–106 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-009-0547-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-009-0547-2

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