Anterior cutaneous branches of femoral nerve
Rami cutanei anteriores nervi femoralis
Sensory branches of the femoral nerve that supply the skin over the front and medial side of the thigh, down to the knee.
At a glance
- English
- Anterior cutaneous branches of femoral nerve
- Latin (TA2)
- Rami cutanei anteriores nervi femoralis
- System
- Nerve
- Region
- Lower limb
- Side
- Paired, left and right
About the anterior cutaneous branches of femoral nerve
The femoral nerve forms in the abdomen from the posterior divisions of the anterior rami of the second, third and fourth lumbar nerves and enters the thigh behind the inguinal ligament, lateral to the femoral artery. In the femoral triangle it soon breaks up into many branches. Its anterior cutaneous branches are the sensory branches that pierce the fascia lata to reach the skin of the front of the thigh. They are usually grouped as the intermediate cutaneous nerve of the thigh and the medial cutaneous nerve of the thigh.
The intermediate branches usually pierce the fascia lata in the upper part of the thigh, often after passing through sartorius, and descend on the front of the thigh as far as the knee. The medial branches run along the medial side of sartorius and supply the skin of the lower medial thigh. Near the knee these branches join the infrapatellar branch of the saphenous nerve and twigs of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve to form a fine network in front of the patella, the patellar plexus.
The branches carry only sensory fibres, and their territory overlaps those of neighbouring nerves: the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve on the outer thigh and the obturator nerve on the inner thigh. Numbness on the front of the thigh after a femoral nerve injury, or after a femoral nerve block, reflects loss of these branches. They can be cut in incisions on the front of the thigh, such as those made to expose the femoral vessels, leaving a patch of reduced feeling that usually shrinks with time.
Course and supply
- Arises from
- Femoral nerve (L2 to L4) in the femoral triangle.
- Ends in
- Skin of the front and medial side of the thigh as far as the knee, ending in the patellar plexus.
- Supplies
- Sensory to the skin of the anterior and medial thigh; no motor fibres.
Anthromica
See the anterior cutaneous branches of femoral nerve where it really sits, with every layer of the body around it.
- Every layer, one body. Peel from muscle to bone, nerve, vessel and organ, and turn it any way.
- English and Latin. Every structure named the way your exam names it.
- Quiz until it sticks. Short drills on the structures you keep missing.
Free to start. No card.
