Quick Facts
Origin: Tibial nerve (L4-L5).
Course: Runs distally under the arch of the foot.
Branches: Common and proper plantar digital nerves.
Supply: Motor innervation to the abductor hallucis, flexor hallucis brevis, flexor digitorum brevis, and the first lumbrical muscles; Sensory innervation to the skin of the medial plantar surface of the foot and first four digits.
Related parts of the anatomy
Origin
The tibial nerve terminates in the tarsal tunnel on the medial surface of the ankle by dividing into the lateral and medial plantar nerves. The medial plantar nerve is the larger of the two terminal branches.
Course
The medial plantar nerve passes distally, between the abductor hallucis and the flexor hallucis brevis muscles.
Branches
The medial plantar nerve gives rise to three common plantar digital nerves and terminates itself as a proper plantar digital nerve.
Supplied Structures
The medial plantar nerve provides motor innervation to the abductor hallucis, flexor hallucis brevis, flexor digitorum brevis, and the first lumbrical muscles. Additionally, it provides sensory innervation to the skin and the anteromedial plantar surface of the foot, as well as the plantar aspects of the first four digits.
List of Clinical Correlates
—Medial plantar neuropraxia (jogger’s foot or medial plantar nerve entrapment syndrome)
