Week 3 Case #3: Following a skiing accident, a 22-year-old medical student spends 6 weeks in a cast to heal a fractured tibia. When the cast is removed, she finds to her dismay (and that of her physician) that she is unable to walk properly because of an inability to dorsiflex her foot.

Name this clinical condition.

Foot drop

What nerve has been damaged, and where?

the common peroneal nerve - damaged where it courses around the neck of the fibula

How could this damage have been prevented?

It is necessary, when casting the limb, to leave a bare area at the dorsum of the foot. Thus the physician can check for the sensory integrity of the deep peroneal nerve.

Sample exam questions:

True/False:

1. The ischiocondylar portion of adductor magnus assists the hamstrings in flexing the leg at the knee.

T

2. The saphenous branch of the femoral nerve accompanies the (superficial) femoral artery and vein through the subsartorial (Hunter's) canal and adductor hiatus to reach the popliteal fossa.

F

3. The prognosis for an extracapsular fracture of the hip is better than for an intracapsular fracture, because the integrity of the cruciate anastomosis is more likely to be maintained in the case of the former.

T

Week 3 Identifications

A. gluteus medius muscle

B. iliacus muscle

C. gracilus muscle