Lateral abdominal cutaneous branch of intercostal nerve

Ramus cutaneus lateralis abdominalis nervi intercostalis

  • Related terms: Lateral abdominal cutaneous branch

Definition

About the middle of their cours, the lower intercostal nerve (7 to 12) give off lateral cutaneous branches called lateral abdominal cutaneous branches

These pierce the Intercostales externi and the Obliquus externus abdominis, in the same line as the lateral cutaneous branches of the upper thoracic nerves, and divide into anterior and posterior branches, which are distributed to the skin of the abdomen and back; the anterior branches supply the digitations of the Obliquus externus abdominis, and extend downward and forward nearly as far as the margin of the Rectus abdominis; the posterior branches pass backward to supply the skin over the Latissimus dorsi.

References

This definition incorporates text from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy (20th U.S. edition of Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body, published in 1918 – from http://www.bartleby.com/107/).