by AceMedEd

Teach card · keep it in your scrub pocket

Leg anatomy

Ask during the case

  1. During the anterolateral fasciotomy incision: "Which septum is under this incision, which two compartments does it separate, and which nerve lies close to it?"
  2. On the ward or in clinic: "The first web space is numb. Which nerve is that, and which compartment does it run in? Now do the same for the dorsum of the foot and the sole."
  3. On the film or in the trauma bay: "Where on the leg is the tibia covered only by skin, and why does that make it the long bone most often fractured open?"

Point at: the fascia or septum about to be opened, while they name the compartment on each side of it.

End of day: "Redraw the mid-leg cross-section for me: four compartments, the septa, and one nerve in each." Two minutes, no notes.

Where this kit and your technique differ, yours wins.

Send this to your students

The night before. They prep alone, redraw at turnover, and get a cold check tomorrow morning. They won't see these questions.

Open the student page

Reviewed by Mehdi “AC” Talle, D.O., November 2026. Sources: Netter, Gray's Anatomy and Hoppenfeld's surgical exposures. Teaching schematic, not to scale; anatomy and technique vary. Management and indications are left to you on purpose.