Anatomical basis for ultrasound-guided infiltration of the saphenous nerve in the subsartorial canal

Romain Lecigne; Pierre-Xavier Dubreil; Eric Berton; Mickaël Ropars; Danoob Dalili; Raphaël Guillin

doi:10.1007/s40477-021-00604-9

Anatomical basis for ultrasound-guided infiltration of the saphenous nerve in the subsartorial canal

J Ultrasound. 2022 Sep;25(3):429-434. doi: 10.1007/s40477-021-00604-9. Epub 2021 Jul 1.

Authors

Romain Lecigne¹, Pierre-Xavier Dubreil², Eric Berton³, Mickaël Ropars⁴, Danoob Dalili⁵, Raphaël Guillin²

Affiliations

¹ Radiology Department, Hôpital Sud, CHU Rennes, 16 Boulevard de Bulgarie, 35200, Rennes, France. [email protected].
² Radiology Department, Hôpital Sud, CHU Rennes, 16 Boulevard de Bulgarie, 35200, Rennes, France.
³ Anatomy Department, Faculté de Médecine de Rennes, Université Rennes 1, 35000, Rennes, France.
⁴ Orthopaedic Surgery Department, Hôpital Pontchaillou, 2 Rue Henri le Guilloux, 35000, Rennes, France.
⁵ School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, Kings College London, London, UK.

Abstract

The present work is aimed studying the visibility and position of the vasto-adductor membrane with ultrasonography and demonstrating that injection performed under this membrane allows to infiltrate the saphenous nerve. It was analyzed with ultrasonography in four cadaveric subjects and in 13 volunteers. This membrane was clearly visible and methylene blue was located underneath it after injection in all cadaveric subjects. This study demonstrates that it can be used as a reliable anatomic landmark when performing an injection for both regional anesthesia and in the treatment of saphenous nerve tunnel syndrome.

Keywords: Regional anesthesia; Saphenous nerve; Subsartorial canal; Ultrasound-guided infiltration; Vasto-adductor membrane.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Cadaver
Humans
Nerve Block*
Thigh / innervation
Ultrasonography
Ultrasonography, Interventional