BLOOD SUPPLY OF PERIPHERAL NERVES

Abstract

The blood supply of the larger peripheral nerves in man has been described in considerable detail in two prevous publications (Sunderland¹). The purpose of the present communication is to outline briefly certain refinements of operative technic which are suggested by the anatomic study of the arrangement and distribution of the arteriae nervorum and which may prove of value in effecting improvements in surgical procedures carried out on peripheral nerves. The reader is referred to the previous two papers for details concerning the general and topographic features of the blood supply of the individual peripheral nerves. It has been demonstrated that in certain regions along its course a nerve is often securely and intimately attached to an adjacent arterial channel by short nutrient arteries. Examples are provided by the ulnar nerve in the condylar groove and in the distal two thirds of the forearm; by the sciatic nerve, which is