Perforating cutaneous nerve
{{Infobox nerve
| Name = Perforating cutaneous nerve
| Latin = nervus cutaneus perforans
| Image = Gray828.png
| Caption = Plan of sacral and pudendal plexuses.
| Image2 = Gray826and831.svg
| Caption2 = Cutaneous nerves of the right lower extremity. Front and posterior views. (Perforating cutaneous nerve not labeled, but region visible.)
| Width = 191px
| Innervates = Gluteal sulcus
| BranchFrom = S2-S3,{{cite book |author1=Adam Mitchell |author2=Drake, Richard |author3=Gray, Henry David |author4=Wayne Vogl |title=Gray's anatomy for students |publisher=Elsevier/Churchill Livingstone |year=2005 |isbn=0-443-06612-4 |page=423}} sacral plexus
| BranchTo =
}}
The perforating cutaneous nerve is a cutaneous nerve of the sacral plexus that provides sensory innervation to the skin of the buttocks.{{Cite book |last=Sinnatamby |first=Chummy S. |title=Last's Anatomy |publisher= |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-7295-3752-0 |edition=12th |pages=310}}
Structure
= Origin =
The perforating cutaneous nerve typically{{Cite book |last=Apaydin |first=Nihal |title=Nerves and Nerve Injuries |publisher=Academic Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-12-410390-0 |edition=1: History, Embryology, Anatomy, Imaging, and Diagnostics |pages=635 |chapter=Chapter 47 - Variations of the Lumbar and Sacral Plexuses and Their Branches |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-410390-0.00049-4 |chapter-url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780124103900000494}} arises from the posterior divisions of{{Cite book |last=Mirjalili |first=S. Ali |title=Nerves and Nerve Injuries |publisher=Academic Press |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-12-410390-0 |volume=1: History, Embryology, Anatomy, Imaging, and Diagnostics |location= |pages=626 |chapter=Chapter 46 - Anatomy of the Sacral Plexus L4-S4 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-410390-0.00048-2 |chapter-url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780124103900000482}} anterior rami of sacral spinal nerves S2 and S3 of the sacral plexus.
= Course =
It pierces the inferior part of the sacrotuberous ligament, then passes along the inferior border of the gluteus maximus muscle.
= Distribution =
The perforating cutaneous nerve innervates the skin that overlies the inferomedial portion of gluteus maximus muscle.
= Variation =
Origin
The perforating cutaneous nerve may arise from the pudendal nerve. It is occasionally united with the pudendal nerve at its origin.
It may be absent (this is the case in 36% of individuals) in which case it is replaced by a branch from either the posterior cutaneous nerve of thigh or from the anterior rami of either S3-S4 or S4-S5.
Course
Instead of piercing the sacrotuberous ligament, the perforating cutaneous may instead run with the pudendal nerve, or pass in between the sacrotuberous ligament and the gluteus maximus muscle.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Lumbosacral plexus}}
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Category:Nerves of the lower limb and lower torso
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