Anatomy study note · Lower limb

Posterior cutaneous nerve of the thigh

A sensory branch of the sacral plexus to the buttock, perineum and back of the thigh.

Key points

• Sacral plexus; below piriformis.
• Skin of the back of the thigh and popliteal fossa.
• Perineal branch to the scrotum/labium majus.
• Upper limb nerves: C4–T2 segments; lower limb: L2–S2.
• Ventral root: basal-lamina neurons. Dorsal root: neural-crest ganglion cells.
• Nerve: epineurium → perineurium (blood–nerve barrier) → endoneurium.
• Cut nerve: Wallerian degeneration; regrows 0.5–3 mm/day.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Course · Branches · Histology · Development

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 11, PDF pp. 1287, 1337
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 17, PDF pp. 318, 321, 323–325; ch. 10, PDF pp. 143–144
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 9, PDF pp. 163–166, 171–172

More from the lower limb

• Posterior tibial artery
• Profunda femoris artery
• Quadriceps femoris
• Retinacula of the ankle
• Saphenous nerve
• Sartorius
• Sciatic nerve
• Semimembranosus
• Semitendinosus
• Short lateral rotators of the hip
• Small saphenous vein
• Sole muscles: first layer

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