A STATISTICAL STUDY OF THE ABDOMINAL AND BOEDER- 

 NERVES IN MAN. 



BT 



CHARLES RUSSELL BARDEEN, M. D. 



From the Anatomical Laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 2Id. 



With 8 Figures and 14 Tables. 



The following imper presents the results of a study of the distribution 

 of the main nerves of the abdomen and of the border region between 

 the abdomen and thigh in man. The study was made in the dissecting 

 rooms of the anatomical laboratory of the Johns Hopkins University^ 

 The methods employed have been elsewhere described.' 



Of the ventral branches of the twelve thoracic or intercostal nerves, 

 the first six generally are confined in distribution to the thorax/ while 

 . the last six are distributed in part to the abdominal walls. In addition, 

 the first two lumbar nerves usually give rise to branches that are dis- 

 tributed to the distal margin of the thoracic wall, and to the skin at 

 the junction of the abdomen and thigh. Considerable variation, how- 

 ever, exists in the origin and distribution of the nerves of the abdomen 

 and of the border region. The extent of this variation in the main 

 nerve tracts is shown in the tables given on pages 216 to 228. The 

 following notes briefly explain these tables: 



The most Anterior Thoracic Nerve, the Ventral Branch of 

 WHICH Extends into the Abdominal Wall to Form the "First 

 Abdominal Nerve." See Table I. 



This table is based upon a very limited number of instances. The 

 ventral branches of the intercostal nerves confined to the thorax emerge 

 ventrally from between two successive costal cartilages. The ventral 

 branches of the nerves distributed both to the abdomen and to the 

 thorax pass below the costal margin of the thorax, then course forwards 



, '(1) A statistical study of tbe variations in the formation and position of the 

 lumbo-sacral plexus in man, Bardeen and Eltin^, Anatomischer Anzeiger, 1901, VoL 

 XIX, p. 124. (2) Use of the material of the dissecting room for scientific purposes, 

 Bardeen, Johns Hopkins Hospital Bulletin, 1901, Vol. Xll, p. 1.5.5. 



2 With the exception of the fibres distributed by the first two or three to the arm. 



