Sciatic nerve - wikipedia Sciatic nerve Sciatic Nerve Right gluteal region, showing surface markings for arteries and sciatic nerve Details From Lumbar and sacral plexus ( L4 - S3 ) To Tibial and common fibular nerve Innervates Lateral rotator group ( except piriformis and quadratus femoris ) and the posterior compartment of thigh Identifiers Latin Nervus ischiadicus MeSH D012584 TA A14. 2.07. 046 FMA 19034 Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy ( edit on Wikidata ) The sciatic nerve ( / saɪˈætɪk / ; also called ischiadic nerve, ischiatic nerve ) is a large nerve in humans and animals. It begins in the lower back and runs through the buttock and down the lower limb. It is the longest and widest single nerve in the human body, going from the top of the leg to the foot on the posterior aspect. The sciatic nerve provides the connection to the nervous system for nearly the whole of the skin of the leg, the muscles of the back of the thigh, and those of the leg and foot. It is derived from spinal nerves L4 to S3. It contains fibers from both the anterior and posterior divisions of the lumbosacral plexus. Contents 1 Structure 1.1 Development 2 Function 3 Clinical significance 3.1 Sciatica 3.2 Injury 3.3 Other disease 3.4 Anesthetic 4 Society and culture 5 See also 6 Additional images 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 External links Structure The sciatic nerve is formed from the L4 to S3 segments of the sacral plexus, a collection of nerve fibres that emerge from the sacral part of the spinal cord. The fibres unite to form a single nerve in front of the piriformis muscle. The nerve passes beneath piriformis and through the greater sciatic foramen, exiting the pelvis. From here, it travels down the posterior thigh to the popliteal fossa. The nerve travels in the posterior compartment of the thigh behind ( superficial to ) the adductor magnus muscle, and is itself in front of ( deep to ) one head of the biceps femoris muscle. At the popliteal fossa, the nerve divides into its two branches : The tibial nerve, which travels down the posterior compartment of the leg into the foot The common peroneal nerve ( also called the common fibular nerve ), which travels down the anterior and lateral compartments of the leg into the foot The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the human body. Tibial and common peroneal nerve ( aka common fibular nerve ) Development This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. ( March 2014 ) Function The sciatic nerve supplies sensation to the skin of the foot, as well as the entire lower leg ( except for its inner side ). Sensation to skin to the sole of the foot is provided by the tibial nerve, and the lower leg and upper surface of the foot via the common fibular nerve. The sciatic nerve also innervates muscles. In particular : Via the tibial nerve, the muscles in the posterior compartment of the leg and sole of the foot ( plantar aspect ). Via the common peroneal nerve ( also called the common fibular nerve ), the muscles in the anterior and lateral compartments of the leg. Clinical significance Sciatica Main article : Sciatica Pain caused by a compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve by a problem in the lower back is called sciatica. Common causes of sciatica include the following lower back and hip conditions : spinal disc herniation, degenerative disc disease, lumbar spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis, and piriformis syndrome. Other acute causes of sciatica include coughing, muscular hypertension, and sneezing. Injury Sciatic nerve injury occurs between 0.5 % and 2.0 % of the time during total hip arthroplasty. Sciatic nerve palsy is a complication of total hip arthroplasty with an incidence of 0.2 % to 2.8 % of the time, or with an incidence of 1.7 % to 7.6 % following revision. Following the procedure, in rare cases, a screw, broken piece of trochanteric wire, fragment of methyl methacrylate bone cement, or Burch - Schneider metal cage can impinge on the nerve ; this can cause sciatic nerve palsy which may resolve after the fragment is removed and the nerve freed. The nerve can be surrounded in oxidized regenerated cellulose to prevent further scarring. Sciatic nerve palsy can also result from severe spinal stenosis following the procedure, which can be addressed by spinal decompression surgery. It is unclear if inversion therapy is able to decompress the sacral vertebrae, it may only work on the lumbar aspects of the sciatic nerves. Sciatic nerve injury may also occur from improperly performed injections into the buttock, and may result in sensory loss. Other disease Bernese periacetabular osteotomy resulted in major nerve deficits in the sciatic or femoral nerves in 2.1 % of 1760 patients, of whom approximately half experienced complete recovery within a mean of 5.5 months. Sciatic nerve exploration can be done by endoscopy in a minimally invasive procedure to assess lesions of the nerve. Endoscopic treatment for sciatic nerve entrapment has been investigated in deep gluteal syndrome ; `` Patients were treated with sciatic nerve decompression by resection of fibrovascular scar bands, piriformis tendon release, obturator internus, or quadratus femoris or by hamstring tendon scarring. '' Anesthetic Signals from the sciatic nerve and it branches can be blocked, in order to interrupted transmission of pain signal from the innervation area, by performing a regional nerve blockade called a sciatic nerve block. Society and culture According to Jewish law, the sciatic nerve ( Hebrew : Gid hanasheh ) can not be eaten, to commemorate Jacob 's hurt in his struggle with an Angel. See also Lesser sciatic notch Greater sciatic notch Additional images Sciatic nerve. Structures surrounding left hip - joint. Nerves of the right lower extremity. Posterior view. Sciatic nerve. Sciatic nerve. Sciatic nerve. See also This article uses anatomical terminology ; for an overview, see Anatomical terminology. Notes Jump up ^ Namely the flexor hallicus longus, flexor digitorum longus, tibialis posterior and popliteus of the deep part of the compartment, and the gastrocnemius, soleus and plantaris of the superficial part of the compartment. Jump up ^ Namely the tibialis anterior, extensor hallucis longus, extensor digitorum longus, and fibularis tertius ( peroneus tertius ) of the anterior compartment, and the Fibularis longus and brevis of the lateral compartment. References This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 960 of the 20th edition of Gray 's Anatomy ( 1918 ) Jump up ^ `` sciatic nerve ( anatomy ) ''. Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved 23 April 2012. ^ Jump up to : Drake, Richard L. ; Vogl, Wayne ; Tibbitts, Adam W.M. Mitchell ; illustrations by Richard ; Richardson, Paul ( 2005 ). Gray 's anatomy for students. Philadelphia : Elsevier / Churchill Livingstone. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8089 - 2306 - 0. Jump up ^ `` Sciatica - Topic Overview ''. WebMD. 21 July 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2012. Jump up ^ `` What is sciatica : What causes sciatica ? ''. MedicalBug. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2012. ^ Jump up to : Stiehl JB, Stewart WA ( 1998 ). `` Late sciatic nerve entrapment following pelvic plate reconstruction in total hip arthroplasty ''. J Arthroplasty. 13 ( 5 ) : 586 -- 8. doi : 10.1016 / s0883 - 5403 ( 98 ) 90060 - 2. PMID 9726326. Jump up ^ Alessandro Bistolfi ; et al. ( 2011 ). `` Operative Management of Sciatic Nerve Palsy due to Impingement on the Metal Cage after Total Hip Revision : Case Report ''. Case Rep Med. 2011 : 830296. doi : 10.1155 / 2011 / 830296. PMC 3163138. PMID 21876701. Jump up ^ Abitbol JJ, Gendron D, Laurin CA, Beaulieu MA ( 1990 ). `` Gluteal nerve damage following total hip arthroplasty. A prospective analysis ''. J Arthroplasty. 5 ( 4 ) : 319 -- 22. doi : 10.1016 / s0883 - 5403 ( 08 ) 80090 - 3. PMID 2290087. is cited by Stiehl and Stewart for the 0.5 - 2.0 % figure. Jump up ^ James, William D. ; Berger, Timothy G. ; et al. ( 2006 ). Andrews ' Diseases of the Skin : clinical Dermatology. Saunders Elsevier. ISBN 0 - 7216 - 2921 - 0. Jump up ^ Sierra RJ, Beaule P, Zaltz I, Millis MB, Clohisy JC, Trousdale RT ( 2012 ). `` Prevention of nerve injury after periacetabular osteotomy ''. Clin. Orthop. Relat. Res. 470 ( 8 ) : 2209 -- 19. doi : 10.1007 / s11999 - 012 - 2409 - 1. PMC 3392380. PMID 22684336. Jump up ^ Mobbs RJ, Teo C ( 2004 ). `` Endoscopic - assisted sciatic nerve exploration ''. Minim Invasive Neurosurg. 47 ( 3 ) : 178 -- 80. doi : 10.1055 / s - 2004 - 818488. PMID 15343436. Jump up ^ Martin HD, Shears SA, Johnson JC, Smathers AM, Palmer IJ ( 2011 ). `` The endoscopic treatment of sciatic nerve entrapment / deep gluteal syndrome ''. Arthroscopy. 27 ( 2 ) : 172 -- 81. doi : 10.1016 / j. arthro. 2010.07. 008. PMID 21071168. Jump up ^ Goldberger, Moshe. `` 1 : Not to Eat the Gid HaNasheh ''. The First Prohibitions. Retrieved 10 March 2014. External links Sciatic_nerve at the Duke University Health System 's Orthopedics program MedlinePlus Image 19503 pelvis at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman ( Georgetown University ) ( pelvicnerves ) glutealregion at The Anatomy Lesson by Wesley Norman ( Georgetown University ) ( glutealner ) Sciatica and the Sciatic Nerve Nerves of the lumbosacral plexus Lumbar plexus iliohypogastric lateral cutaneous branch anterior cutaneous branch ilioinguinal anterior scrotal ♂ / labial ♀ genitofemoral femoral branch genital branch Lateral cutaneous patellar obturator anterior cutaneous posterior accessory femoral anterior cutaneous branches saphenous ( infrapatellar medial crural cutaneous sacral plexus sciatic common peroneal lateral sural cutaneous communicating branch deep peroneal lateral terminal branch medial terminal branch dorsal digital superficial peroneal medial dorsal cutaneous intermediate dorsal cutaneous dorsal digital tibial medial sural cutaneous medial calcaneal medial plantar ( common plantar digital nerves proper plantar digital ) lateral plantar ( deep branch superficial branch common plantar digital proper plantar digital ) sural lateral dorsal cutaneous lateral calcaneal other Muscular superior gluteal inferior gluteal lateral rotator group ( to quadratus femoris to obturator internus to the piriformis ) cutaneous : posterior cutaneous of thigh ( inferior cluneal perineal branches ) perforating cutaneous coccygeal plexus pudendal inferior anal perineal deep posterior scrotal ♂ / labial ♀ dorsal of the penis ♂ / clitoris ♀ anococcygeal Related cutaneous innervation of the lower limbs Anatomy portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sciatic_nerve&oldid=825796999 '' Categories : Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 20th edition of Gray 's Anatomy ( 1918 ) Nerves of the lower limb and lower torso Hidden categories : Articles to be expanded from March 2014 All articles to be expanded Articles using small message boxes Use dmy dates from December 2010 Talk Contents About Wikipedia ܐܪܡܝܐ Azərbaycanca Català Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Español Estremeñu Euskara فارسی Français 한국어 Italiano עברית Қазақша Nederlands 日本 語 Polski Português Русский Српски / srpski Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 15 February 2018, at 13 : 44. 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Question: where does the sciatic nerve run in the human body
Answer: begins in the lower back and runs through the buttock and down the lower limb