Corpus: Common fibular nerve

The common fibular nerve arises from the sciatic nerve and carries somatomotoric and general somatosensory fibres.

The common fibular nerve first runs medial to the biceps femoris muscle, whose caput breve it innervates motorically. It then runs around the head of the fibula and into the fibular ligament, where it divides into its two end branches, the superficial fibular nerve and the deep fibular nerve.

3.1. Lateral cutaneous nerve

The lateral cutaneous nerve supplies the skin on the lateral and partly on the dorsal side of the lower leg. It gives off a fibular communicating branch at varying heights, which unites with the medial cutaneous nerve of the tibial nerve to form the sural nerve.

3.2. Superficial fibular nerve (L5-S2)

The superficial fibular nerve, which departs from the common fibular nerve, supplies the fibularis longus muscle and the fibularis brevis muscle, as well as the skin of the medial dorsum of the foot.

3.3. Deep fibular nerve (L4-L5)

The profundus fibular nerve supplies the extensors of the lower leg and the skin area between the hallux and second toe ("flip-flop area").

Damage to the common fibular nerve, which is particularly common in car accidents, leads to a loss of the fibularis muscles, which cause pronation of the foot, as well as the extensors of the lower leg. The foot is thus plantarflexed and supinated. This position is also known as pointed clubfoot.

The lack of innervation of the dorsal extensors of the foot results in the clinical picture of stepper gait.