Anatomy study note · Lower limb

Plantar nerves

The terminal branches of the tibial nerve in the sole, comparable to the median (medial plantar) and ulnar (lateral plantar) nerves of the hand.

Key points

• Medial plantar ≈ median nerve (3½ toes, 4 muscles).
• Lateral plantar ≈ ulnar nerve (deep branch: adductor hallucis, interossei).
• Both from the tibial nerve under the flexor retinaculum.
• Upper limb nerves: C4–T2 segments; lower limb: L2–S2.
• Ventral root: basal-lamina neurons. Dorsal root: neural-crest ganglion cells.
• Nerve: epineurium → perineurium (blood–nerve barrier) → endoneurium.
• Cut nerve: Wallerian degeneration; regrows 0.5–3 mm/day.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Branches · Histology · Development

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 11, PDF pp. 1383–1384
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 17, PDF pp. 318, 321, 323–325; ch. 10, PDF pp. 143–144
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 9, PDF pp. 163–166, 171–172

More from the lower limb

• Plantaris
• Popliteal artery
• Popliteal lymph nodes
• Popliteal vein
• Popliteus
• Posterior cutaneous nerve of the thigh
• Posterior tibial artery
• Profunda femoris artery
• Quadriceps femoris
• Retinacula of the ankle
• Saphenous nerve
• Sartorius

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