| sural nerve | |
|---|---|
 Dissection of popliteal space to show the formation of a type 1 sural nerve | |
 Cartoon version adapted from Steele et al. depicting type 1 sural nerve | |
| Details | |
| From | Union of Medial sural cutaneous nerve + sural communicating nerve |
| To | Sural nerve forms after piercing out of deep fascia or after an anastomosis, terminates as lateral dorsal cutaneous nerve |
| Innervates | Supplies cutaneous sensation to the skin of the posterolateral leg and lateral ankle. |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | nervus suralis |
| MeSH | D013497 |
| TA98 | A14.2.07.062 |
| TA2 | 6586 |
| FMA | 44688 |
| Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy | |
The sural nerve (L4-S1) is generally considered a pure cutaneous nerve of the posterolateral leg to the lateral ankle. The sural nerve originates from a combination of either the sural communicating branch and medial sural cutaneous nerve, or the lateral sural cutaneous nerve. This group of nerves is termed the sural nerve complex. There are eight documented variations of the sural nerve complex. Once formed the sural nerve takes its course midline posterior to posterolateral around the lateral malleolus. The sural nerve terminates as the lateral dorsal cutaneous nerve.