| Nerve: Sciatic Nerve | |
|---|---|
| Latin | nervus ischiadicus |
| Gray's | subject #213 960 |
| Innervates | Lateral rotator group (except Piriformis and Quadratus femoris), Posterior compartment of thigh |
| From | lumbar plexus and sacral plexus: L4-S3 |
| To | tibial nerve, common fibular nerve |
The sciatic nerve (also known as the ischiadic nerve and the ischiatic nerve) is a large nerve fiber in humans and other animals. It begins in the lower back and runs through the buttock and down the lower limb. It is the longest and widest single nerve in the human body going from the top of the leg to the foot on the posterior aspect.
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. It is derived from spinal nerves L4 through S3. It contains fibres from both the anterior and posterior divisions of the lumbosacral plexus.
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The nerve gives off articular and muscular branches.
The muscular branch eventually gives off the tibial nerve and common fibular 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 (which is innervated by the common fibular nerve).
The sciatic nerve innervates the skin on the posterior aspect of the thigh and gluteal regions, as well as the entire lower leg (except for its medial aspect).
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 and hip conditions: spinal disc herniation, degenerative disc disease, lumbar spinal stenosis, spondylolisthesis and piriformis syndrome.
This article was originally based on an entry from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy. As such, some of the information contained within it may be outdated.
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