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Information about Femoral Nerve

Nerve: Femoral nerve
The lumbar plexus and its branches. (Femoral labeled at bottom left.)
Femoral sheath laid open to show its three compartments. (Femoral nerve visible in yellow.)
Latinnervus femoralis
subject #212 955
Innervatesanterior compartment of thigh
MeSH Femoral+nerve
Dorlands/Elsevier n_05/12565782
The femoral nerve, the largest branch of the lumbar plexus, arises from the dorsal divisions of the second, third, and fourth lumbar nerves. It descends through the fibers of the Psoas major, emerging from the muscle at the lower part of its lateral border, and passes down between it and the Iliacus, behind the iliac fascia; it then runs beneath the inguinal ligament, into the thigh, and splits into an anterior and a posterior division. Under the inguinal ligament, it is separated from the femoral artery by a portion of the Psoas major.

In the abdomen

Within the abdomen the femoral nerve gives off small branches to the Iliacus, and a branch which is distributed upon the upper part of the femoral artery; the latter branch may arise in the thigh.

In the thigh

Anterior division

In the thigh the anterior division of the femoral nerve gives off anterior cutaneous and muscular branches.
  • Anterior cutaneous branches: The anterior cutaneous branches comprise the following nerves: intermediate cutaneous nerve and medial cutaneous nerve.
  • Muscular branches (rami musculares): The nerve to the Pectineus arises immediately below the inguinal ligament, and passes behind the femoral sheath to enter the anterior surface of the muscle; it is often duplicated. The nerve to the Sartorius arises in common with the intermediate cutaneous.

Posterior division

The posterior division of the femoral nerve gives off the saphenous nerve, and muscular and articular branches.
  • The saphenous nerve (n. saphenus; long or internal saphenous nerve) is the largest cutaneous branch of the femoral nerve.
  • The muscular branches supply the four parts of the Quadriceps femoris.
  • The branch to the Rectus femoris enters the upper part of the deep surface of the muscle, and supplies a filament to the hip-joint.
  • The branch to the Vastus lateralis, of large size, accompanies the descending branch of the lateral femoral circumflex artery to the lower part of the muscle. It gives off an articular filament to the knee-joint.
  • The branch to the Vastus medialis descends lateral to the femoral vessels in company with the saphenous nerve. It enters the muscle about its middle, and gives off a filament, which can usually be traced downward, on the surface of the muscle, to the knee-joint.
  • The branches to the Vastus intermedius, two or three in number, enter the anterior surface of the muscle about the middle of the thigh; a filament from one of these descends through the muscle to the Articularis genu and the knee-joint. The articular branch to the hip-joint is derived from the nerve to the Rectus femoris.
  • The articular branches to the knee-joint are three in number.
  • One, a long slender filament, is derived from the nerve to the Vastus lateralis; it penetrates the capsule of the joint on its anterior aspect.
  • Another, derived from the nerve to the Vastus medialis, can usually be traced downward on the surface of this muscle to near the joint; it then penetrates the muscular fibers, and accompanies the articular branch of the highest genicular artery, pierces the medial side of the articular capsule, and supplies the synovial membrane.
  • The third branch is derived from the nerve to the Vastus intermedius.

Additional images


Structures surrounding right hip-joint.

Structures passing behind the inguinal ligament

The left femoral triangle.

The femoral artery.

The great saphenous vein and its tributaries at the fossa ovalis.

Plan of lumbar plexus.

Deep and superficial dissection of the lumbar plexus.

Cutaneous nerves of right lower extremity. Front view.

Diagram of segmental distribution of the cutaneous nerves of the right lower extremity. Front view.

Nerves of the right lower extremity. Front view.

Diagram of the segmental distribution of the cutaneous nerves of the right lower extremity. Posterior view.

Sacral plexus of the right side.

Posterior view of the anterior abdominal wall in its lower half. The peritoneum is in place, and the various cords are shining through.

Iliac colon, sigmoid or pelvic colon, and rectum seen from the front, after removal of pubic bones and bladder.

Front of right thigh, showing surface markings for bones, femoral artery and femoral nerve.


External links

This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained herein may be outdated. Please edit the article if this is the case, and feel free to remove this notice when it is no longer relevant.

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Nerves of lower limbs and lower torso: the lumbosacral plexus
lumbar plexusiliohypogastric - ilioinguinal - genitofemoral (femoral branch/lumboinguinal, genital branch) - lateral cutaneous of thigh (patellar) - obturator (anterior, cutaneous, posterior, accessory) - femoral (anterior cutaneous branches, saphenous)
sacral/coccygeal plexusto quadratus femoris - to obturator internus - to the piriformis - superior gluteal - inferior gluteal - posterior cutaneous of thigh (inferior cluneal, perineal branches)
sciatic: tibial (medial sural cutaneous, sural, medial calcaneal, medial plantar, lateral plantar) - common fibular (lateral sural cutaneous, deep fibular, superficial fibular, medial dorsal cutaneous, intermediate dorsal cutaneous)
pudendal plexusperforating cutaneous - pudendal (dorsal of the penis/clitoris, inferior anal, perineal and posterior scrotal/labial) - anococcygeal
cutaneous innervation of the lower limbs
The lumbar plexus is a nervous plexus in the lumbar region of the body. It is formed by the loops of communication between the anterior divisions of the first three and the greater part of the fourth lumbar nerves; the first lumbar often receives a branch from the last thoracic
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The femoral sheath (crural sheath) is formed by a prolongation downward, behind the inguinal ligament, of the fasciæ which line the abdomen, the transversalis fascia being continued down in front of the femoral vessels and the iliac fascia behind them.
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Latin}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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The anterior fascial compartment of thigh contains the knee extensors and hip flexors:
  • sartorius (the longest muscle in the human body)
  • quadriceps (rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, vastus medialis)
  • articularis genu

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Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is a huge controlled vocabulary (or metadata system) for the purpose of indexing journal articles and books in the life sciences. Created and updated by the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM), it is used by the MEDLINE/PubMed
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Elsevier, the world's largest publisher of medical and scientific literature, forms part of the Reed Elsevier group. Based in Amsterdam, the company has substantial operations in the UK, USA and elsewhere.
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The lumbar plexus is a nervous plexus in the lumbar region of the body. It is formed by the loops of communication between the anterior divisions of the first three and the greater part of the fourth lumbar nerves; the first lumbar often receives a branch from the last thoracic
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The lumbar nerves are the five spinal nerves emerging from the lumbar vertebrae. They are divided into posterior and anterior divisions.

Posterior divisions

The medial branches of the posterior divisions of the lumbar nerves run close to the articular processes of the
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The Psoas major is a long fusiform muscle placed on the side of the lumbar region of the vertebral column and brim of the lesser pelvis.

Location

Origin

It arises:

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The Iliacus is a flat, triangular muscle, which fills the iliac fossa.

It arises from the upper two-thirds of this fossa, and from the inner lip of the iliac crest; behind, from the anterior sacroiliac and the iliolumbar ligaments, and base of the sacrum; in front, it
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The iliac fascia has the following connections:
  • laterally, to the whole length of the inner lip of the iliac crest.
  • medially, to the linea terminalis of the lesser pelvis, where it is continuous with the periosteum.

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The inguinal ligament is a band running from the pubic tubercle to the anterior superior iliac spine. Its anatomy is very important for operating on hernia patients.

It forms the base of the inguinal canal which is the place from where the inguinal hernia develops.
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In humans the thigh is the area between the pelvis and buttocks and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb.

The single bone in the thigh is called the femur.
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The inguinal ligament is a band running from the pubic tubercle to the anterior superior iliac spine. Its anatomy is very important for operating on hernia patients.

It forms the base of the inguinal canal which is the place from where the inguinal hernia develops.
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The femoral artery is a large artery in the muscles of the thigh.

Structure

The femoral artery is a continuation of the external iliac artery, which comes from the abdominal aorta.
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The Psoas major is a long fusiform muscle placed on the side of the lumbar region of the vertebral column and brim of the lesser pelvis.

Location

Origin

It arises:

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The Iliacus is a flat, triangular muscle, which fills the iliac fossa.

It arises from the upper two-thirds of this fossa, and from the inner lip of the iliac crest; behind, from the anterior sacroiliac and the iliolumbar ligaments, and base of the sacrum; in front, it
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The anterior cutaneous branches of the femoral nerve consist of the following nerves: intermediate cutaneous nerve and medial cutaneous nerve.

Intermediate cutaneous nerve

The intermediate cutaneous nerve (middle cutaneous nerve
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The pectineus muscle is a flat, quadrangular muscle, situated at the anterior part of the upper and medial aspect of the thigh.

Action

It is one of the muscles primarily responsible for hip flexion. It also adducts and medially rotates the thigh.
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Sartorius may refer to:
  • Sartorius muscle, a long thin muscle that runs down the length of the thigh
  • Sartorius Point
  • as fictional characters
  • Sartorius (Yu-Gi-Oh! GX)

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The Saphenous Nerve (long or internal saphenous nerve) is the largest cutaneous branch of the femoral nerve.

It approaches the femoral artery where this vessel passes beneath the Sartorius, and lies in front of it, behind the aponeurotic covering of the
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"Quads" redirects here. For other uses see Quad
The quadriceps femoris (quadriceps, quadriceps extensor, guads or quads) includes the four prevailing muscles on the front of the thigh.
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The Rectus femoris muscle is one of the four quadriceps muscles of the human body. (The others are the vastus medialis, the vastus intermedius (deep to the rectus femoris), and the vastus lateralis.
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The Vastus lateralis (Vastus externus) is the largest part of the Quadriceps femoris. It arises by a broad aponeurosis, which is attached to the upper part of the intertrochanteric line, to the anterior and inferior borders of the greater trochanter, to the lateral lip of the
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The lateral circumflex femoral artery (lateral femoral circumflex artery, external circumflex artery) is an artery in the upper thigh.

Structure

The lateral femoral circumflex artery arises from the lateral side of the profunda femoris artery, passes
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The vastus medialis, often called the 'teardrop' muscle, is a medially located muscle of the quadriceps.

Function

Vastus medialis has been widely reported to be responsible for extending the leg the last 10%, however this commonly held claim has no basis, indeed
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The Saphenous Nerve (long or internal saphenous nerve) is the largest cutaneous branch of the femoral nerve.

It approaches the femoral artery where this vessel passes beneath the Sartorius, and lies in front of it, behind the aponeurotic covering of the
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The Vastus intermedius (Crureus) arises from the front and lateral surfaces of the body of the femur in its upper two-thirds and from the lower part of the lateral intermuscular septum.
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The Articularis genu (Subcrureus) is a small muscle, usually distinct from the Vastus intermedius, but occasionally blended with it; it arises from the anterior surface of the lower part of the body of the femur, and is inserted into the upper part of the synovial membrane
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In human anatomy, the knee is the lower extremity joint connecting the femur and the tibia. Since in humans the knee supports nearly the entire weight of the body, it is the joint most vulnerable both to acute injury and to the development of osteoarthritis.
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