Obturator nerve: anatomy

3 big nerves of the lower limb

1. Femoral-anterior compartment
2. Obturator-medial compartment
3. Sciatic-posterior compartment

The Obturator is:

• Derived from L3 and L4
• Deep in the obturator canal after descending from the medial psoas muscle
• Primarily a motor nerve, very little sensory contribution (see picture below)
• Once leaving this canal, 2 branches are formed (see picture below):
  1. Anterior.
     1. Articulate branch to the hip
     2. Anterior adductor thigh muscles
     3. Cutaneous branch to the lower branch medial thigh(variable)
  2. Posterior.
     1. Articulate branch to the knee(variable)
     2. Deep adductor muscles