| Greater sciatic foramen | |
|---|---|
 Thepelvis showing the greater sciatic foramen in red | |
| Details | |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | foramen ischiadicum majus |
| TA98 | A03.6.03.008 |
| TA2 | 1316 |
| FMA | 17031 |
| Anatomical terminology | |
Thegreater sciatic foramen is an opening (foramen) in the posteriorhuman pelvis. It is formed by thesacrotuberous andsacrospinous ligaments. Thepiriformis muscle passes through the foramen and occupies most of its volume. The greater sciatic foramen is wider in women than in men.
It is bounded as follows:
Thepiriformis, which exits the pelvis through the foramen, occupies most of its volume.
The following structures also exit the pelvis through the greater sciatic foramen:[2]
| Location | Name | Vessels | Nerves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Above the Piriformis | suprapiriform foramen[3] | superior gluteal vessels | superior gluteal nerve |
| Below the Piriformis | infrapiriform foramen[3] | inferior gluteal vessels internal pudendal vessels | inferior gluteal nerve pudendal nerve sciatic nerve posterior femoral cutaneous nerve Nerve to obturator internus Nerve to quadratus femoris |
This article incorporates text in thepublic domain frompage 309 of the 20th edition ofGray's Anatomy(1918)
