THE WIDTH OF THE SCIATIC NERVE IN THE HIMACHALI POPULATION -A CADAVERIC STUDY

Dr. Amit Raj Sharma*

ABSTRACT

The sciatic nerve is the thickest nerve of the body.[1] It is formed by the tibial and common peroneal components in a single sheath and divides into the tibial and common peroneal nerves at the apex of the popliteal fossa; however, the level of bifurcation can be variable.[2] The width of the sciatic nerve is different at different levels. The knowledge of the width of the sciatic nerve at different levels is important in anaesthesia, orthopaedics, rehabilitation, and neurology.[3] The study was done by dissection of forty human adult lower limb specimens, irrespective of sex from the Department of Anatomy, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India. During dissection, we found the minimum length of the sciatic nerve was 4.27 cm and the maximum length of the sciatic nerve was 36.07 cm. The length of the sciatic nerve depends on the level of division. Knowledge about the length of the sciatic nerve is important for clinicians and surgeons.

Keywords: Sciatic nerve, the tibial, common peroneal nerves, width of the nerve.