Applied Macroanatomy of the Anterior Thigh

Abstract

There are four areas of interest to the regional anesthesiologist and acute pain physician in the anterior thigh. These include three nerves and their branches and one specific area. These nerves are the femoral nerve with its seven branches, the obturator nerve with its two branches, and the lateral cutaneous nerve of the thigh. The adductor canal is the anatomical area of interest, as an adductor canal block, although much debated and its true value questioned, has been popularized in recent years. These nerves and their areas of sensory distributions and the adductor canal are discussed in this chapter. A fourth nerve, the genitofemoral nerve, and more specifically, its femoral branch, also features in this area and is discussed in this chapter.

Keywords: Acute pain medicine, Adductor canal, Adductor canal block, Adductor muscles, Anterior thigh, Femoral nerve, Genitofemoral nerve., Lateral cutaneous nerve of the thigh, Nerve to sartorius, Obturator nerve, Quadriceps muscles, Rectus femoris, Regional anesthesiologist, Saphenous nerve, Sartorius muscle, Subsartorial plexus, Subsartorial space, Vastus intermedius, Vastus lateralis, Vastus medialis.