European Journal of Anatomy

Official Journal of The Spanish Society of Anatomy
Cover Volume 24 - Number 4
Eur J Anat, 24 (4): 281-284 (2020)

The recurrent motor nerve, a possible cause of denervation following hamstring injury and repair: acadaveric case

Nicholas Rebuffa1, Sean Strauther2, Mr Colin Holton3, Mr Roger Hackney4

1University of Sheffield, Medical School, UK2University of Leeds, Department of Anatomy, UK3Leeds General Infirmary, UK4Spire Leeds Hospital, UK

ABSTRACT Severe hamstring injuries warranting surgical repair are rare and mainly affect athletes, young and middle-aged people. A minority of these pa-tients report postoperative complications of dener-vation. Symptoms of denervation range from mus-cle weakness to sciatic nerve palsy. Recent ana-tomical observations suggest that a recurrent mo-tor nerve, which inserts into the proximal ham-strings, may be responsible for this denervation. The recurrent motor nerve was identified through cadaveric dissection and the site of nerve penetra-tion into the muscle, measured 1.5 cm from the ischial tuberosity. This distance is significantly shorter than previous studies report. Awareness of this nerve branch is an important consideration in hamstring injury and repair. Due to its course, the recurrent motor nerveâ??s name is also a source of discussion.

Keywords: Hamstring anatomy â?? Hamstring inju-ry â?? Proximal hamstring repair â?? Recurrent motor nerve â?? Denervation â?? Sciatic nerve

European Journal of anatomy
ISSN 2340-311X (Online)