Incidence of Encountering the Infrapatellar Nerve Branch of the Saphenous Nerve During a Midline Approach for Total Knee Arthroplasty

摘要

The infrapatellar nerve branch (IPNB) of the saphenous nerve supplies cutaneous sensation to the anterolateral knee. Given its location and variable course, the IPNB is suspected to be at risk of injury with commonly used incisions around the knee. Nerve injury may lead to painful neuroma formation. To our knowledge, no study has evaluated the incidence at which the IPNB is encountered during the anterior approach incision for a routine total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The purpose of this study was to see whether the general joint arthroplasty surgeon can identify and examine the location of the IPNB encountered during primary TKA and to determine whether these branches would be transected during a standard medial arthrotomy.