Sacrotuberous ligament
| Ligament: Sacrotuberous ligament | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Articulations of pelvis, anterior view, with greater sciatic foramen (labeled in red) and its boundaries. | ||
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| Articulations of pelvis. Posterior view. | ||
| Latin | ligamentum sacrotuberale | |
| Gray's | p.309 | |
| From | sacrum | |
| To | tuberosity of the ischium | |
The sacrotuberous ligament (great or posterior sacrosciatic ligament) is situated at the lower and back part of the pelvis. It is flat, and triangular in form; narrower in the middle than at the ends.
It runs from the sacrum (the lower transverse sacral tubercles, the inferior margins sacrum and the upper coccyx[1]) to the tuberosity of the ischium.
The membranous falciform process of the sacrotuberous ligament was found to be absent in 13% of cadavers. When present it extends towards the ischioanal fossa travelling along the ischial ramus and fusing with the obturator fascia.
The sacrotuberous ligament contains the coccygeal branch of the inferior gluteal artery.
The lower border of the ligament was found to be directly continuous with the tendon of origin of the long head of the Biceps femoris in approximately 50% of subjects.[2] Biceps femoris could therefore act to stabilise the sacroiliac joint via the sacrotuberous ligament.
If the pudendal nerve becomes entrapped between this ligament and the sacrospinous ligament causing perineal pain, the sacrotuberous ligament is surgically severed to relieve the pain.
Additional images
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Articulations of pelvis. Anterior view.
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The superficial branches of the internal pudendal artery.
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The posterior aspect of the rectum exposed by removing the lower part of the sacrum and the coccyx.
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Nélaton’s line and Bryant’s triangle.
External links
- SUNY Figs 13:03-04 - "Deep muscles of the gluteal region with gluteus medius and maximus muscles removed."
- SUNY Figs 17:02-05 - "Posterior view of the bones and ligaments of the hip joint."
- 41:os-0114 at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center - "The Female Perineum"
- 42:12-0102 at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center - "The Male Perineum and the Penis: Boundaries of the Ischioanal fossa"
- SUNY Anatomy Image 9075
- hip/hip%20ligaments/ligaments7 at the Dartmouth Medical School's Department of Anatomy
References
- ↑ Marios Loukas,Robert G Louis Jr, Barry Hallner, Ankmalika A Gupta and Dorothy White. (2006) "Anatomical and surgical considerations of the sacrotuberous ligament and its relevance in pudendal nerve entrapment syndrome" Surg Radiol Anat 28(2): 163-169
- ↑ Vleeming, A., R. Stoeckart, et al. (1989). "The sacrotuberous ligament: a conceptual approach to its dynamic role in stabilizing the sacroiliac joint." Clinical Biomechanics 4(4): 200-203.
This article incorporates text from a public domain edition of Gray's Anatomy.
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