The intermediate dorsal cutaneous nerve (external dorsal cutaneous branch), the smaller, passes along the lateral part of the dorsum of the

foot The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg mad ...

, and divides into dorsal digital branches, which supply the contiguous sides of the third and fourth, and of the fourth and fifth

toes Toes are the digits (fingers) of the foot of a tetrapod. Animal species such as cats that walk on their toes are described as being ''digitigrade''. Humans, and other animals that walk on the soles of their feet, are described as being ''planti ...

. It also supplies the skin of the lateral side of the foot and ankle, and communicates with the

sural nerve The sural nerve ''(L4-S1)'' is generally considered a pure cutaneous nerve of the posterolateral leg to the lateral ankle. The sural nerve originates from a combination of either the sural communicating branch and medial sural cutaneous nerve, o ...

. The branches of the superficial

peroneal nerve The common fibular nerve (also known as the common peroneal nerve, external popliteal nerve, or lateral popliteal nerve) is a nerve in the lower leg that provides sensation over the posterolateral part of the leg and the knee joint. It divides at ...

supply the skin of the dorsal surfaces of all the toes excepting the lateral side of the little toe, and the adjoining sides of the great and second toes, the former being supplied by the lateral dorsal

cutaneous nerve A cutaneous nerve is a nerve that provides nerve supply to the skin. Human anatomy In human anatomy, cutaneous nerves are primarily responsible for providing sensory innervation to the skin. In addition to sympathetic and autonomic afferent (sen ...

from the sural nerve, and the latter by the medial branch of the deep peroneal nerve. Frequently some of the lateral branches of the superficial peroneal are absent, and their places are then taken by branches of the

References

Nerves of the lower limb and lower torso {{Neuroanatomy-stub