Sciatic nerve: Difference between revisions

Jump to navigation Jump to search
No edit summary
No edit summary
Line 80: Line 80:


[[Category:Peripheral nervous system]]
[[Category:Peripheral nervous system]]
 
{{SIB}}
{{WH}}
{{WH}}
{{WikiDoc Sources}}
{{WikiDoc Sources}}

Revision as of 15:38, 19 May 2009

Template:Infobox Nerve

WikiDoc Resources for Sciatic nerve

Articles

Most recent articles on Sciatic nerve

Most cited articles on Sciatic nerve

Review articles on Sciatic nerve

Articles on Sciatic nerve in N Eng J Med, Lancet, BMJ

Media

Powerpoint slides on Sciatic nerve

Images of Sciatic nerve

Photos of Sciatic nerve

Podcasts & MP3s on Sciatic nerve

Videos on Sciatic nerve

Evidence Based Medicine

Cochrane Collaboration on Sciatic nerve

Bandolier on Sciatic nerve

TRIP on Sciatic nerve

Clinical Trials

Ongoing Trials on Sciatic nerve at Clinical Trials.gov

Trial results on Sciatic nerve

Clinical Trials on Sciatic nerve at Google

Guidelines / Policies / Govt

US National Guidelines Clearinghouse on Sciatic nerve

NICE Guidance on Sciatic nerve

NHS PRODIGY Guidance

FDA on Sciatic nerve

CDC on Sciatic nerve

Books

Books on Sciatic nerve

News

Sciatic nerve in the news

Be alerted to news on Sciatic nerve

News trends on Sciatic nerve

Commentary

Blogs on Sciatic nerve

Definitions

Definitions of Sciatic nerve

Patient Resources / Community

Patient resources on Sciatic nerve

Discussion groups on Sciatic nerve

Patient Handouts on Sciatic nerve

Directions to Hospitals Treating Sciatic nerve

Risk calculators and risk factors for Sciatic nerve

Healthcare Provider Resources

Symptoms of Sciatic nerve

Causes & Risk Factors for Sciatic nerve

Diagnostic studies for Sciatic nerve

Treatment of Sciatic nerve

Continuing Medical Education (CME)

CME Programs on Sciatic nerve

International

Sciatic nerve en Espanol

Sciatic nerve en Francais

Business

Sciatic nerve in the Marketplace

Patents on Sciatic nerve

Experimental / Informatics

List of terms related to Sciatic nerve

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Please Take Over This Page and Apply to be Editor-In-Chief for this topic: There can be one or more than one Editor-In-Chief. You may also apply to be an Associate Editor-In-Chief of one of the subtopics below. Please mail us [2] to indicate your interest in serving either as an Editor-In-Chief of the entire topic or as an Associate Editor-In-Chief for a subtopic. Please be sure to attach your CV and or biographical sketch.

Overview

The sciatic nerve (also known as the ischiatic nerve) is a large nerve that starts in the lower back and runs through the buttock and down the lower limb. It is the longest and largest single nerve in the body.

The sciatic supplies nearly the whole of the skin of the leg, the muscles of the back of the thigh, and those of the leg and foot.

Anatomical course

The nerve enters the lower limb by exiting the pelvis through the greater sciatic foramen, below the Piriformis muscle.

It descends midway in the greater trochanter of the femur and the tuberosity of the ischium, and along the back of the thigh to about its lower third, where it divides into two large branches, the tibial and common peroneal nerves. This division may take place at any point between the sacral plexus and the lower third of the thigh. When it occurs at the plexus, the common peroneal nerve usually pierces the Piriformis muscles.

In the upper part of its course, the nerve rests upon the posterior surface of the ischium, the nerve to the Quadratus femoris, the Obturator internus and Gemelli; it is accompanied by the posterior femoral cutaneous nerve and the inferior gluteal artery, and is covered by the Gluteus maximus.

Lower down, it lies upon the Adductor magnus, and is crossed obliquely by the long head of the Biceps femoris.

Branches

The nerve gives off articular and muscular branches.

  • The articular branches (rami articulares) arise from the upper part of the nerve and supply the hip-joint, perforating the posterior part of its capsule; they are sometimes derived from the sacral plexus.
  • The muscular branches (rami musculares) are distributed to the following muscles of the lower limb: Biceps femoris, Semitendinosus, Semimembranosus, and Adductor magnus. The nerve to the short head of the Biceps femoris comes from the common peroneal part of the sciatic, while the other muscular branches arise from the tibial portion, as may be seen in those cases where there is a high division of the sciatic nerve.

The muscular branch eventually gives off the tibial nerve and common peroneal nerve, which innervates the muscles of the (lower) leg. The tibial nerve goes on to innervate all muscles of the foot except the extensor digitorum brevis (peroneal nerve).

Pathology

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 low back conditions: spinal disc herniation, degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, and spondylolisthesis.

Counter Pressure Relief for Sciatica

Applying counter pressure to location of sciatic nerve pain will provide temporary relief. [1] This method may be utilized by applying 2-minutes of pressure to sciatic, using a solid object in the area of pain (ex. a fist or tennis ball) pressed against another solid surface (ex. wall).

Additional images

Internal links

External links

Template:Gray's Template:Lumbosacral plexus

Template:SIB Template:SIB Template:WH Template:WikiDoc Sources

  1. He J, Wu B, Zhang W, Ten G. (2007). "Immediate and short-term pain relief by acute sciatic nerve press: a randomized controlled trial". BMC Anesthesiol. (May): 4. PMID: 17504543 [PubMed].