Talk:Dermatome (anatomy)

The
The lower set of images are not directly related to dermatomes and should probably be put somewhere else. The distinction between nerves and nerve cells originating from a dorsal root should be made with reference to the plexuses where the dorsal root nerves merge and diverge. JackWasey

Dermatome map
A dermatome map indicating the position of the nipples and umbilicus would be more useful than the one curently displayed. sallison 05:07, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

We need a better dermatome map, maybe one that shows the names of the different dermatomes on the body itself? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.173.113.245 (talk) 20:13, 27 June 2010 (UTC)

Important vs useful
Are the 4 dermatones listed with their anatomical landmarks "important" or just "clinically useful." All the dermatones are important, but these are easy to spot and to help orient. Thoughts? Tkjazzer 20:52, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

I'm inclined to agree, though I'll let someone else make that change. I adjusted a couple of key landmarks (xiphoid, pubic bone) per the appropriate Netter diagram (, not free use so can't place on page). 98.196.108.245 01:47, 9 November 2007 (UTC)DrP

Need to the 3 foot dermatones. Tkjazzer 05:22, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

please edit the colored dermatone image
it would be useful to have black lines going from the color boxes to the area on the body. Would be faster in figuring out which is which - Tkjazzer 20:53, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

Why article name?
I believe this artticle has had its name changed from dermatome to dermatomic area-WHY? My (correct me if I'm wrong) knowledge is that we refer to the areas as dermatomes not dermatomic areas??? who thought that this (dermatomic area) is a better name for the article?--Read-write-services (talk) 21:59, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

Move/rename of article to Dermatome proposed.
I think that the term dermatomic area is too specific, clinically the subject is simply called a dermatome. Please discuss and add your support or otherwise, then after consensus 9either way) I will amend or leave it as is. Regards.--Read-write-services (talk) 22:38, 20 February 2008 (UTC)


 * No responses either positive or negative opposing the move, therefore I moved the article.--Read-write-services (talk) 22:51, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Clinical Significance
I think we could talk more about the clinical significance. We have outlined the herpes zoster virus but we have barely touched on spinal injuries (which i thought would be much more appropriate). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 59.101.108.236 (talk) 08:27, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Factual error?
"A dermatome is an area of skin that is mainly supplied by a single spinal nerve. There are eight cervical nerves, twelve thoracic nerves, five lumbar nerves and five sacral nerves. Each of these nerves relays sensation (including pain) from a particular region of skin to the brain."

From what I've heard, the C1 pair does not connect to any dermatomes. Also, the second sentence is structured such that it seems to list all the spinal nerves, but the coccygeal nerve pair is left out.


 * The first sentence needs to be rewritten to make it clear that there are left/right pairs of nerves - the way its phrased now makes it seem there is only one nerve from each vertebra. Roger (talk) 14:36, 11 January 2010 (UTC)

Dermatomes of upper leg
A trawl of the web (Google Images: dermatomes) would seem to reveal two very different schools of thought for dermatomes of the thigh. Broadly speaking, either big broad patches, or thin strips that spiral inwards to the front as one descends from hip to knee. Can anyone elaborate / clarify ? 78.25.205.130 (talk) 17:10, 12 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Its not "different schools of thought". The thin diagonal strips are on the front of the thigh and the broad areas are on the back. See http://www.apparelyzed.com/dermatome.html Roger (talk) 16:16, 19 April 2010 (UTC)

Dermatome image
I switched the image from the previous (at right) to the current ones, because of the following reasons: Mikael Häggström (talk) 19:46, 2 May 2013 (UTC)
 * The current ones also show the backside and the soles of the feet.
 * They correspond to the fact that dermatomes actually overlap significantly.

Proposed merge with Dermatome (anatomy)
Per myotome, this and Dermatome (embryology) are the same concept, so they should be merged into a single article. As these are much more common terminology than the surgical instrument, they should occupy the main page (Dermatome) Tom (LT) (talk) 23:07, 25 October 2014 (UTC)


 * As mentioned earlier dermatome as part of a somite is not the same as the area of skin that a nerve supplies. Have merged dermatome (embryology) to Somite. Iztwoz (talk) 18:18, 21 November 2014 (UTC)

Broken Link and Wrong Date for a Reference
The link for "Key Sensory Points.pdf" is broken as that page has been moved. The link is now:

http://www.asia-spinalinjury.org/elearning/Key_Sensory_Points.pdf

The PDF itself has the date of June, 2008 on all its pages which is mentioned because the Wiki page has a date of June, 200. Middle Roman period, apparently (that was a truly bad joke, but the date really is wrong).

Don't know if it's copyrighted or not, and couldn't figure out how to fix the link. Someone else will have to do that, sorry.

Spiffytoad (talk) 18:29, 20 September 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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Keegan map has poor validity
The Keegan map, published in the 50's, with the winding dermatomal srips in the infobox has been discredited, and has never been validated by other authors. It needs to be replaced with another map. See https://www.jospt.org/doi/full/10.2519/jospt.2011.3506 for contextInnerCitadel (talk) 04:48, 14 August 2020 (UTC)

C1
The second sentence is not strictly correct;

'There are 8 cervical nerves (C1 being an exception with no dermatome)'

In fact, C1 has a small meningeal branch that supplies sensation to parts of the dura around the foramen magnum (via dorsal rami).

Point of Presence talk  18:12, 2 January 2022 (UTC)