Nerve · Lower leg

Saphenous nerve

Nervus saphenus

The longest branch of the femoral nerve, and the only part of that nerve to cross the knee. It travels down the thigh inside the adductor canal, lying in front of the femoral artery, then leaves the canal not through the opening the vessels use but by piercing the fascia between sartorius and gracilis. From there it runs down the inner side of the leg beside the great saphenous vein, past the inner ankle, and along the inner border of the foot as far as the ball of the big toe. It supplies no muscle whatsoever — so everything the femoral nerve does below the knee is sensation, on the inner side of the limb.