New data on surgical anatomy of intercostal nerves in mesogastric region of abdominal wall

Abstract

The purposeof our research is to study the topographic features of intercostal nerves in the mesogastric region of the anterior abdominal wall. We studied 88 nonfixed corpses of both sexes with no pathology of the anterior abdominal wall. Intercostal nerves in the mesogastric region of the anterior abdominal wall were dissected to determine the degree of their penetration into the rectus abdominis relative to the the low end of the costal arch and the outer edge of the rectus. The study revealed from 1 to 4 pairs of intercostal nerves in the mesogastric region of the anterior abdominal wall. Intercostal nerves penetrated into the rectus abdominis through its outer edges (52%), rather through its posterior surface (39%). To reduce the risk of intraoperative traumas of intercostal nerves we determined the degree of their penetration into the depth of the rectus abdominal muscle. The obtained data can be used to predict the topography of intercostal nerves in prosthetic hernia repair of umbilical hernias.