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The human leg is the entire lower limb of the human body, including the foot, thigh or sometimes even the hip or buttock region. The major bones of the leg are the femur, tibia, and adjacent fibula. The thigh is between the hip and knee, while the calf (rear) and shin (front) are between the knee and foot.
The femoral triangle is an anatomical region of the upper third of the thigh. It is a subfascial space which appears as a triangular depression below the inguinal ligament when the thigh is flexed, abducted and laterally rotated.
The pectineus muscle is a flat, quadrangular muscle, situated at the anterior (front) part of the upper and medial (inner) aspect of the thigh. The pectineus muscle is the most anterior adductor of the hip. The muscle's primary action is hip flexion; it also produces adduction and internal rotation of the hip.
In the human body, the adductor longus is a skeletal muscle located in the thigh. One of the adductor muscles of the hip, its main function is to adduct the thigh and it is innervated by the obturator nerve. It forms the medial wall of the femoral triangle.
The adductor magnus is a large triangular muscle, situated on the medial side of the thigh.
The gracilis muscle is the most superficial muscle on the medial side of the thigh. It is thin and flattened, broad above, narrow and tapering below.
The iliopsoas muscle refers to the joined psoas major and the iliacus muscles. The two muscles are separate in the abdomen, but usually merge in the thigh. They are usually given the common name iliopsoas. The iliopsoas muscle joins to the femur at the lesser trochanter. It acts as the strongest flexor of the hip.
The femoral nerve is a nerve in the thigh that supplies skin on the upper thigh and inner leg, and the muscles that extend the knee. It is the largest branch of the lumbar plexus.
The posterior cutaneous nerve of the thigh is a sensory nerve of the thigh. It is a branch of the sacral plexus. It supplies the skin of the posterior surface of the thigh, leg, buttock, and also the perineum.
The lumbar plexus is a web of nerves in the lumbar region of the body which forms part of the larger lumbosacral plexus. It is formed by the divisions of the first four lumbar nerves (L1-L4) and from contributions of the subcostal nerve (T12), which is the last thoracic nerve. Additionally, the ventral rami of the fourth lumbar nerve pass communicating branches, the lumbosacral trunk, to the sacral plexus. The nerves of the lumbar plexus pass in front of the hip joint and mainly support the anterior part of the thigh.
The obturator nerve in human anatomy arises from the ventral divisions of the second, third, and fourth lumbar nerves in the lumbar plexus; the branch from the third is the largest, while that from the second is often very small.
The lateral cutaneous nerve of the thigh is a cutaneous nerve of the thigh. It originates from the dorsal divisions of the second and third lumbar nerves from the lumbar plexus. It passes under the inguinal ligament to reach the thigh. It supplies sensation to the skin on the lateral part of the thigh by an anterior branch and a posterior branch.
The inferior gluteal artery is a terminal branch of the anterior trunk of the internal iliac artery. It exits the pelvis through the greater sciatic foramen. It is distributed chiefly to the buttock and the back of the thigh.
The adductor canal is an aponeurotic tunnel in the middle third of the thigh giving passage to parts of the femoral artery, vein, and nerve. It extends from the apex of the femoral triangle to the adductor hiatus.
The descending genicular artery arises from the femoral artery just before its passage through the adductor hiatus.
The saphenous nerve is the largest cutaneous branch of the femoral nerve. It is derived from the lumbar plexus (L3-L4). It is a strictly sensory nerve, and has no motor function. It commences in the proximal (upper) thigh and travels along the adductor canal. Upon exiting the adductor canal, the saphenous nerve terminates by splitting into two terminal branches: the sartorial nerve, and the infrapatellar nerve. The saphenous nerve is responsible for providing sensory innervation to the skin of the anteromedial leg.
The anterior branch of the obturator nerve is a branch of the obturator nerve found in the pelvis and leg.
The anterior cutaneous branches of the femoral nerve consist of the following nerves: intermediate cutaneous nerve and medial cutaneous nerve.
The cutaneous branch of the obturator nerve is an occasional continuation of the communicating branch to the femoral medial cutaneous branches and saphenous branches of the femoral to the thigh and leg. When present it emerges from beneath the distal/inferior border of the adductor longus muscle and descends along the posterior margin of the sartorius muscle to the medial side of the knee where it pierces the deep fascia and communicates with the saphenous nerve. When present, it provides sensory innervation to the skin of proximal/superior half of the medial side of the leg.
The infrapatellar branch of saphenous nerve is a nerve of the lower limb.
References
- Henry Gray (1821–1865). Anatomy of the Human Body. 1918. IX. Neurology. 6d
- 1 2 3 Gardner, ERNEST D.; Bunge, RICHARD P. (2005-01-01), Dyck, Peter J.; Thomas, P. K. (eds.), "Chapter 2 - Gross Anatomy of the Peripheral Nervous System" , Peripheral Neuropathy (Fourth Edition), Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, pp. 11–33, doi:10.1016/b978-0-7216-9491-7.50005-3, ISBN 978-0-7216-9491-7 , retrieved 2021-02-23