Clinical Importance of the Lateral Branch of the Deep Peroneal Nerve

Abstract

Persistent recalcitrant dorsolateral foot pain after ankle sprain cannot always be explained by known anatomic nerve pathways. To determine whether an impingement of a lateral branch of the deep peroneal nerve might be responsible for atypical pain, we conducted a cadaveric anatomic study to identify the anatomy and course of the nerve. Furthermore, using this information, we conducted a clinical study to determine if targeted treatment to a lateral branch of the deep peroneal nerve would resolve these symptoms. We dissected 22 cadaveric feet to identify a large lateral branch of the deep peroneal nerve. This nerve arborized into five main branches. We identified two areas of compression in the lateral branch of the deep peroneal nerve. We also performed a prospective clinical study including 11 consecutive patients with a 1-year minimum followup. Pain and clinical findings corresponded to the anatomic compression sites in all 11 patients. All patients responded to a local anesthetic injection or surgical release of the lateral branch of the deep peroneal nerve. We identified a previously unreported complex course of the lateral branch of the deep peroneal nerve that correlated with clinical impingement syndrome and responded to specifically targeted treatment.