Prevalence of ulnar-to-median nerve motor fiber anastomosis (Riché-Cannieu communicating branch) in hand: An electrophysiological study

Two main muscles studied in the hand for evaluation of median nerve injuries are opponens pollicis (OP) and abductor pollicis brevis (APB). However, Riché-Cannieu communicating branch (RCCB) may limit the use of these muscles in electrodiagnosis. This condition is confusing in the case of median nerve injuries. This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of RCCB.
Twenty-three consecutive cases of complete median nerve injury were studied. Evoked responses via stimulation of median and ulnar nerves in the wrist and recording with needle in the thenar area were studied.
Of the patients, 82.6% exhibited RCCB. In 14 (60.8%) cases the OP and in 19(82.6%) cases APB was supplied by the ulnar nerve.
RCCB was detected to be 60.8% in OP and 82.6% in APB, so OP is preferable to APB in the study of median nerve.