The aim of this study was to elucidate the anatomical location of nerve entry points of Flexor digitorum profundus (FDP) and
its implications for non-surgical neurolysis. A total of 21 amputated forearms of 11 Korean fresh cadavers were dissected.
Two transverse
x-axes joined the medial and lateral epicondyles and the radial and ulnar styloid processes. The longitudinal
y-axis joined the midpoints of the proximal and distal transverse
x-axes. The locations of the points were marked relative to the forearm length (
x) and forearm width (
y). The number of nerve entry points from median nerve and ulnar nerve were average 3.91 ± 0.62 (range 3–5, median 4) and 2.14 ± 0.65
(range 1–3, median 2) respectively. Most (82.9%) nerve entry points of FDP from the median nerve were within two circles,
with 15 mm diameter. The two circles were on medial 1/10 of forearm width from the
y-axis, and on proximal 1/3 (1:2) and 2/5 (2:3) of forearm length on
x-axis. Most (80.0%) nerve entry points of the ulnar nerve innervating FDP were within a 15 × 30 mm rectangle. Its center was
located at +26.5% on
x-axis and −36.0% on
y-axis. The nerve entry points used to be selected in performing non-surgical neurolysis with either ethyl alcohol (50%) or
phenol (5–12%).
Keywords Forearm - Skeletal muscle - Anatomy - Median nerve - Ulnar nerve