Obturator nerve
Nervus obturatorius
NervousNervesWhole bodyLeft and right
View left in 3D View right in 3D
- What it is
- Leaves the medial border of psoas at the pelvic brim, runs along the side wall of the pelvis and leaves through the obturator canal at the top of the obturator foramen, then splits into anterior and posterior branches around adductor brevis.
- Function
- Motor to the adductor muscles of the thigh (adductor longus, brevis and part of magnus, gracilis, obturator externus); sensation from a patch of skin on the inner thigh.
- Size
- About 3 mm thick; ~25 cm long
- Clinical note
- A pelvic tumour or hernia through the obturator canal pressing on it causes pain referred to the inner knee (Howship-Romberg sign); it is blocked during bladder surgery to stop the leg jerking.