Greater sciatic foramen

Last revised by Craig Hacking on 17 Feb 2021

The greater sciatic foramen is a large osteoligamentous foramen within the pelvis that is a major conduit of neurovascular structures from the pelvis to the lower limb. The greater sciatic foramen is separated from the smaller lesser sciatic foramen below by the sacrospinous ligament.

Gross anatomy

Boundaries

In a clockwise fashion, its boundaries include:

Contents

Many structures enter or exit the pelvis through the greater sciatic foramen and are broadly divided based on whether they lie above or below the piriformis muscle - the suprapiriform and infrapiriform foramina respectively.

Suprapiriform foramen
Infrapiriform foramen

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