
Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Lateral cutaneous nerve of the forearm
Introduction
The lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve (or lateral cutaneous nerve of forearm) (branch of musculocutaneous nerve, also sometimes spelled “antebrachial”) passes behind the cephalic vein, and divides, opposite the elbow-joint, into a volar and a dorsal branch.
Volar branch
Volar branch
The volar branch (ramus volaris; anterior branch) descends along the radial border of the forearm to the wrist, and supplies the skin over the lateral half of its volar surface.
At the wrist-joint it is placed in front of the radial artery, and some filaments, piercing the deep fascia, accompany that vessel to the dorsal surface of the carpus.
The nerve then passes downward to the ball of the thumb, where it ends in cutaneous filaments.
It communicates with the superficial branch of the radial nerve, and with the palmar cutaneous branch of the median nerve.
Dorsal branch
Dorsal branch
The dorsal branch (ramus dorsalis; posterior branch) descends, along the dorsal surface of the radial side of the forearm to the wrist.
It supplies the skin of the lower two-thirds of the dorso-lateral surface of the forearm, communicating with the superficial branch of the radial nerve and the dorsal antebrachial cutaneous branch of the radial.
See also
See also
Additional images
Additional images
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Cross-section through the middle of upper arm.
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Cross-section through the middle of the forearm.
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Cutaneous nerves of right upper extremity. Anterior view.
External links
External links
- Template:DukeOrtho
- Template:NormanAnatomy, Template:NormanAnatomy
- Template:EatonHand
- Template:SUNYAnatomyFigs – “Cutaneous nerves of the upper extremity.”
- Template:KansasHandKinesiology
- Template:EMedicineDictionary
Editor-In-Chief: Template:Infobox Nerve C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]


