Marinacci Anastomosis: A Case Report

Abstract

Marinacci anastomosis or the reverse Martin-Gruber anastomosis is a rare anomalous intercommunication from the ulnar nerve to the median nerve in the forearm. A young lady was involved in a road traffic accident that resulted in the fracture of both forearm bones for which she was treated surgically. A nerve conduction study was performed later on, which incidentally demonstrated findings of this communication. Knowledge of this anastomosis can help prevent misdiagnosis of clinical findings and misinterpretation of electrophysiological studies and help mitigate iatrogenic injury during surgical procedures.

Marinacci Communication With Recovery of the Thumb, Finger, and Wrist Flexion After a High Median Nerve Injury: A Case Report and Review of Literature

“…This rare ulnar-median anomalous communication has mainly been reported as an incidental finding and the majority of patients diagnosed with am MC had noncontributory symptoms (Table 1) [7]. Accordingly, only two studies reported upper extremity neurologic manifestations that resulted in the diagnosis of MC [2,8]. Notably, both of these patients had a previous history of upper extremity trauma.…”

“…Hence, it is speculated that the prevalence of MC has been underreported. A review of the literature suggests that this normal anatomic variation tends to often occur bilaterally [8,9]. Being aware of the presence of an anomalous nerve communication is of great importance when performing surgery as it increases the risk for iatrogenic nerve damage [2].…”

Possible anastomoses between the long branches of the brachial plexus and their clinical significance

“…The communicating branch contains mainly motor fibers, rarely sensory, as in MGA [31,71]. Hodzic et al [70] observed a communicating branch of 5.2 cm behind the ulnar artery.…”