CROSSING THE LEGS AS A FACTOR IN THE PRODUCTION OF PERONEAL PALSY

Abstract

Nature designed wisely when she protected important and slowly healing structures, such as nerves and blood vessels, by placing them in sheltered situations. A few of the major nerves, such as the facial, the ulnar, the radial and the peroneal, however, come close to the surface. To be sure, this exposure occurs only for short distances, but it explains in part the frequency with which these nerves are injured. In this paper I shall consider a possible and apparently neglected factor in the production of paralysis of the peroneal nerve. During the development of the hind limb, a rather extensive rotation carries the peroneal nerve laterad and ventrad, over the head of the fibula. In lower animals, it is still protected by the relative length of the tarsus and the usual position of flexion of the hind limbs. Observant clinicians have called attention to various forms of occupational palsies, but