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Variations in the compartmental location of the superficial fibular nerve: a cadaveric study with meta-analysis

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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate variations in the course of the superficial fibular nerve (SFN) and its branches—the medial dorsal cutaneous nerve (MDCN) and intermediate dorsal cutaneous nerve (IDCN)—concerning the leg compartments by means of a meta-analysis supplemented with an original anatomical study.

Materials and methods

A literature survey was conducted in the PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Lilacs databases on October 14th, 2021, to obtain anatomical data, and the PRISMA statement was adopted as a methodological guideline. We used MetaXL software for data analysis. We classified the anatomical data into three location patterns: in Type 1, the SFN courses through the lateral compartment; in Type 2, the SFN courses through the anterior compartment; in Type 3, the MDCN courses through the anterior compartment and the IDCN courses in the lateral compartment.

Results

Twelve studies (n = 837 lower limbs) comprised the current review. The SFN location was normal (Type 1 variation) in 77% (95% CI 72.9–78.9) of the cases, while Type 2 had a pooled prevalence of 14.3% (95% CI 11.1–15.9). Type 3 was the less common course, with a prevalence of 8.7% (95% CI 5.9–9.7). We found differences among the geographical subgroups analyzed.

Conclusions

The SFN courses through the lateral compartment of the leg most times, and the prevalence of this pattern varies significantly between the different geographical subgroups evaluated. These results are of great clinical and surgical relevance.

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Acknowledgements

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nursing, Federal University of Sergipe, Aracaju, Sergipe, Brazil

    Alisson Guilherme da Silva Correia, João Gustavo Santos Vieira & Beatriz Cristina Machado Rodrigues

  2. Department of Morphology, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Brazil

    Luís Henrique Santos Fortes & Diogo Costa Garção

  3. Neurosciences Study Group, Federal University of Sergipe, São Cristóvão, Brazil

    Alisson Guilherme da Silva Correia & Diogo Costa Garção

Authors
  1. Alisson Guilherme da Silva Correia
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  2. João Gustavo Santos Vieira
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  3. Beatriz Cristina Machado Rodrigues
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  4. Luís Henrique Santos Fortes
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  5. Diogo Costa Garção
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Contributions

AC, JV, BR, LF, and DG wrote the main manuscript text and AC prepared figures 1-3. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alisson Guilherme da Silva Correia.

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This study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Sergipe (No. 79260417.0.0000.5546).

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Correia, A.G.d., Vieira, J.G.S., Rodrigues, B.C.M. et al. Variations in the compartmental location of the superficial fibular nerve: a cadaveric study with meta-analysis. Surg Radiol Anat 44, 1431–1437 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-022-03041-3

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