recurrent branch of the median nerve

It usually passes {{Clarification needed|date=August 2023|text=distal}} to the transverse carpal ligament.{{cite journal|author=Kozin SH|year=1998|title=The anatomy of the recurrent branch of the median nerve|journal=J Hand Surg Am|volume=23|issue=5|pages=852–8|doi=10.1016/S0363-5023(98)80162-7|pmid=9763261}} It ends in the opponens pollicis.{{cite book|author1=Ellis, Harold|url=https://archive.org/details/graysanatomyanat0000unse/page/728|title=Gray's anatomy: the anatomical basis of clinical practice|author2=Susan Standring|author3=Gray, Henry David|publisher=Elsevier Churchill Livingstone|year=2005|isbn=0-443-07168-3|location=St. Louis, Mo|page=[https://archive.org/details/graysanatomyanat0000unse/page/728 728]}}

In the thenar eminence, the recurrent branch of the median nerve provides motor innervation to:{{Citation|last=Tonkin|first=Michael|title=3 - NERVE COMPRESSION SYNDROMES|date=2010-01-01|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780702033773000032|work=The Musculoskeletal System (Second Edition)|pages=33–45|editor-last=Sambrook|editor-first=Philip|publisher=Churchill Livingstone|language=en|isbn=978-0-7020-3377-3|access-date=2021-01-11|editor2-last=Schrieber|editor2-first=Leslie|editor3-last=Taylor|editor3-first=Thomas|editor4-last=Ellis|editor4-first=Andrew M.}}

• opponens pollicis muscle
• abductor pollicis brevis muscle
• superficial part of flexor pollicis brevis muscle

A separate, more proximal branch of the median nerve additionally provides motor innervation to the 1st and 2nd lumbricals of the hand. All other intrinsic muscles of the hand receive motor innervation via the ulnar nerve.

The recurrent branch of the median nerve may be affected in carpal tunnel syndrome, or from its own separate peripheral neuropathies.{{Cite journal|last=Bennett|first=J. B.|last2=Crouch|first2=C. C.|date=July 1982|title=Compression syndrome of the recurrent motor branch of the median nerve|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7119403/|journal=The Journal of Hand Surgery|volume=7|issue=4|pages=407–409|doi=10.1016/s0363-5023(82)80155-x|issn=0363-5023|pmid=7119403|via=}}

The recurrent branch of the median nerve is also colloquially called the "Million Dollar Nerve", because injury to this nerve during carpal tunnel surgery can lead to a million dollar lawsuit. Injury to this nerve can lead to loss of function of the thumb. Such injury can happen if the flexor retinaculum is transected too radially. The possibility of injury to this nerve is even greater when it runs through the ligament without any curling at the distal part of the ligament.{{cite book|last1=Christian|first1=de Virgilio|last2=Paul N|first2=Frank|last3=Areg|first3=Grigorian|title=Surgery: A Case Based Clinical Review|date=10 January 2015|publisher=Springer|isbn=9781493917266|page=316|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DmUqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA316|access-date=26 January 2018}}

• Median nerve
• Thenar eminence
• Abductor pollicis brevis muscle
• Flexor pollicis brevis muscle
• Opponens pollicis muscle
• Nerve injury
• Carpal tunnel surgery

{{reflist}}

• {{NormanAnatomy|lesson5nervesofhand}}

{{Brachial plexus}}

Category:Nerves of the upper limb