División Alta del Nervio Fibular Superficial: Origen Precoz de los Nervios Cutáneos Dorsales del Pie

the dorsal cutaneous nerves of the foot originate from the superficial fibular nerve (sfn), then pass from the lateral compartment of the leg piercing the deep fascia, thus distributed superficially in the dorsum of the foot. sometimes sfn splits early, so these nerves originate deeply and with a different arrangement. the objective of this research was to study in these cases, the origin of the dorsal cutaneous nerves of the foot and pierce point level in the deep fascia of the leg. we studied 16 formolized samples of chilean adult individuals. in two of them its origin was observed at a high level, near the proximal epiphysis of the fibula. in the first case the intermediate dorsal cutaneous nerve arose directly from the posterior division of sfn, of short course; the anterior division of sfn was subdivided into two branches, which after a short course, both branches joined to form the medial dorsal cutaneous nerve. in the second case the medial and intermediate dorsal cutaneous nerves originated directly from the sfn, which after a short course, it divided in these two nerves. the origin level was recorded in relation to the lateral epicondyle of the femur and the passage of these nerves through the deep fascia of the leg for its skin distribution was located in relation to the lateral malleolus. although the origin of the dorsal cutaneous nerves of the foot occur very close to the proximal epiphysis of the fibula, passing through the mentioned fascia in its distal third. a detailed knowledge of the branches of the sfn and variations can reduce injuries in these nerves during surgical procedures in the lateral compartment of the leg.