The LFCN may emerge from the lateral border of the psoas major above or below the IC. The AC/AB ratio can help surgeons to find the LFCN in patients with different body types.

The branching pattern of the ulnar nerve in the forearm is of great importance in anterior transposition of the ulnar nerve for decompression after neuropathy of cubital tunnel syndrom and malformations resulting from distal end fractures of the humerus. In this study, 37 formalin-fixed forearms were used to demonstrate the muscular branching patterns from the main ulnar nerve to the flexor carpi ulnaris muscle (FCU) and ulnar part of the flexor digitorum profundus muscle (FDP). Eight branching patterns were found and classified into four groups according to the number of the muscular branches leaving the main ulnar nerve. Two (Group I) and three (Group II) branches left the main ulnar nerve in 18 and 17 forearms respectively. The remaining two specimens had four (Group III) and five (Group IV) branches each. Usually one or two branches were associated with the innervation of the FCU. However, in 2 cases, three and in one, four branches to FCU were observed. The FDP received a single branch in all cases, except in four, all of which had two branches. In six forearms, a common trunk was observed arising from the ulnar nerve to supply the FCU and FDP. The distribution of the muscular branches to the revealed muscles was outlined in figures and the distance of the origin of these branches from the interepicondylar line was measured in millimeters. The first muscular branch leaving the main ulnar nerve was the FCU-branch in all specimens. The terminal muscular branch of the ulnar nerve to the forearm muscles arose at the proximal 1/3 of the forearm in all specimens. In 7 forearms, Martin-Gruber anastomosis in form of median to ulnar was observed.

Knowledge of the anatomy of the median nerve is important in surgery of the palmar aspect of the hand. The purpose of our study was to investigate the ramification pattern of the thenar branch before entering the thenar fascia and the distribution of the terminal branches in the thenar musculature. The observations were carried out on 144 hands of 74 dissecting room cadavers. According to the number of the thenar branches entering the thenar fascia we classified our specimens into four types. In 121 hands (84%, Group I) the thenar branch piercing the thenar fascia was a single trunk. In 19 hands (13.2%, Group II) two branches; in three (2.1%; Group III), three branches; and in one hand (0.7%; Group IV), four branches were identified entering the thenar fascia. Accessory thenar nerve was found in 8.3% of hands. The further division of each branch to its terminal branches was investigated in detail. Our results show that the more the number of thenar branches entering the thenar fascia, the less the terminal branching. Because more than one branch was seen in 16% of the specimens, meticulous dissection is required for preventing injury of the thenar branches before entering the thenar fascia.

Dissection of the human body for educational purposes became officially permitted in the Ottoman Empire only after a long, difficult process. In the West, studies based on the findings of Galen had been taboo during a long period in which dissection of human bodies had been prohibited. Although the first dissection studies since ancient times began to appear in the Western literature in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, the post-Galen taboo against dissection was broken only in the 16th century by the studies of Vesalius. However, in the Eastern World, it was only fairly recently that the idea of the "sanctity of the human body" could be challenged. In the medieval Islamic world, as during the Middle Ages in the West, prohibitions against the dissection of human cadavers continued for social and religious reasons, although the Koran does not specifically ban such dissection. This prohibition also continued through the Ottoman era, which began in the 14th century. The first efforts to end the prohibition on dissection in the Ottoman Empire were made at the beginning of the 19th century during the reign of Sultan Selim III but official permission for dissection was given only in 1841 during the reign of Sultan Abdulmecid. Educational dissections in the Ottoman Empire officially began at the Istanbul Medical School following the granting of this permission. This article will discuss the attempts to end the prohibition of dissection in Ottomans within the scope of the history of anatomical study in Turkey.