Greater sciatic foramen

Last updated

Greater sciatic foramen
Greater sciatic foramen.png
The pelvis showing the greater sciatic foramen in red
Details
Identifiers
Latin foramen ischiadicum majus
TA98 A03.6.03.008
TA2 1316
FMA 17031
Anatomical terminology

The greater sciatic foramen is an opening (foramen) in the posterior human pelvis. It is formed by the sacrotuberous and sacrospinous ligaments. The piriformis muscle passes through the foramen and occupies most of its volume. The greater sciatic foramen is wider in women than in men.

Contents

Structure

It is bounded as follows:

Function

The piriformis, which exits the pelvis through the foramen, occupies most of its volume.

The following structures also exit the pelvis through the greater sciatic foramen: [2]

LocationNameVesselsNerves
Above the Piriformissuprapiriform foramen [3] superior gluteal vessels superior gluteal nerve
Below the Piriformisinfrapiriform foramen [3] inferior gluteal vessels
internal pudendal vessels
inferior gluteal nerve
pudendal nerve
sciatic nerve
posterior femoral cutaneous nerve
Nerve to obturator internus
Nerve to quadratus femoris

See also

References

PD-icon.svgThis article incorporates text in the public domain from page 309 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

  1. 1 2 3 Chaitow, Leon; DeLany, Judith (January 1, 2011), Chaitow, Leon; DeLany, Judith (eds.), "Chapter 11 - The pelvis" , Clinical Application of Neuromuscular Techniques, Volume 2 (Second Edition), Oxford: Churchill Livingstone, pp. 299–389, doi:10.1016/b978-0-443-06815-7.00011-5, ISBN   978-0-443-06815-7 , retrieved February 6, 2021
  2. "Greater Sciatic Foramen - Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics". wheelessonline.com. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Yokochi, Chihiro; Rohen, Johannes W. (2006). Color Atlas of Anatomy: A Photographic Study of the Human Body. Hagerstown, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. p. 482. ISBN   978-0-7817-9013-0.