Greater sciatic foramen

Part of the pelvis

Greater sciatic foramen
The pelvis showing the greater sciatic foramen in red
Details
Identifiers
Latinforamen ischiadicum majus
TA98A03.6.03.008
TA21316
FMA17031
Anatomical terminology
[edit on Wikidata]

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.

Structure

It is bounded as follows:

  • anterolaterally by the greater sciatic notch of the ilium.[1]
  • posteromedially by the sacrotuberous ligament.[1]
  • inferiorly by the sacrospinous ligament and the ischial spine.[1]
  • superiorly by the anterior sacroiliac ligament.

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]

Location Name Vessels Nerves
Above the Piriformis suprapiriform foramen[3] superior gluteal vessels superior gluteal nerve
Below the Piriformis infrapiriform 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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Greater sciatic foramen.

References

Public domain This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 309 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

  1. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b 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.

External links

  • Greater sciatic foramen at the Duke University Health System's Orthopedics program
  • glutealregion at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman (Georgetown University) (glutealart, glutealner)
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Bones of the pelvis
GeneralIlium
body
wing
gluteal lines
iliac spines
other:
Ischium
body
superior ramus
inferior ramus
  • no substructures
Pubis
Compound
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