Lateral cutaneous nerve of forearm

Template:Infobox Nerve Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

The lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve (or lateral cutaneous nerve of forearm) (branch of musculocutaneous nerve, also sometimes spelled "antebrachial") passes behind the cephalic vein, and divides, opposite the elbow-joint, into a volar and a dorsal branch.

Volar branch

The volar branch (ramus volaris; anterior branch) descends along the radial border of the forearm to the wrist, and supplies the skin over the lateral half of its volar surface.

At the wrist-joint it is placed in front of the radial artery, and some filaments, piercing the deep fascia, accompany that vessel to the dorsal surface of the carpus.

The nerve then passes downward to the ball of the thumb, where it ends in cutaneous filaments.

It communicates with the superficial branch of the radial nerve, and with the palmar cutaneous branch of the median nerve.

Dorsal branch

The dorsal branch (ramus dorsalis; posterior branch) descends, along the dorsal surface of the radial side of the forearm to the wrist.

It supplies the skin of the lower two-thirds of the dorso-lateral surface of the forearm, communicating with the superficial branch of the radial nerve and the dorsal antebrachial cutaneous branch of the radial.