Greater sciatic foramen explained

Greater sciatic foramen
Latin:	foramen ischiadicum majus

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.
• posteromedially by the sacrotuberous ligament.
• inferiorly by the sacrospinous ligament and the ischial spine.
• 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:^[1]

Location	Name	Vessels	Nerves	-	Above the Piriformis	suprapiriform foramen^[2]			-	Below the Piriformis	infrapiriform foramen		inferior gluteal nerve pudendal nerve sciatic nerve posterior femoral cutaneous nerve Nerve to obturator internus Nerve to quadratus femoris

See also

• Lesser sciatic foramen

Notes and References

1. Web site: Greater Sciatic Foramen - Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics. wheelessonline.com. 2016-12-27.
2. Book: Yokochi, Chihiro. Rohen, Johannes W.. Rohen, Johannes W.. Color Atlas of Anatomy: A Photographic Study of the Human Body . Lippincott Williams & Wilkins . Hagerstown, MD . 2006. 978-0-7817-9013-0 . 482.