Quotation from: Manual of Surgery

Written by: Alexander Miles and Alexis Thomson


#The Sciatic Nerve.#--When this nerve is compressed, as by sitting on a
fence, there is tingling and powerlessness in the limb as a whole, known
as "sleeping" of the limb, but these phenomena are evanescent. _Injuries
to the great sciatic nerve_ are rare except in war. Partial division is
more common than complete, and it is noteworthy that the fibres destined
for the peroneal nerve are more often and more severely injured than
those for the tibial (internal popliteal). After complete division, all
the muscles of the leg are paralysed; if the section is in the upper
part of the thigh, the hamstrings are also paralysed. The limb is at
first quite powerless, but the patient usually recovers sufficiently to
be able to walk with a little support, and although the hamstrings are
paralysed the knee can be flexed by the sartorius and gracilis. The
chief feature is drop-foot. There is also loss of sensation below the
knee except along the course of the long saphenous nerve on the medial
side of the leg and foot. Sensibility to deep touch is only lost over a
comparatively small area on the dorsum of the foot.

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