Description:
The obturator
internus m. is a thick, fan-shaped muscle within the pelvis that covers
the obturator foramen, attaching around its' perimeter, and to the thick
obturator membrane. The obturator vessels and nerves lie on the surface
of the m., exiting the true pelvis via the obturator canal. Sloping downward
from antero-superiorly above, the muscle leaves the true pelvis by curving
acutely around the ischium, below its' spine through the
lesser sciatic foramen, to reach the greater trochanter of the femur.
Medial to the obturator internus m., the parietal pelvic fascia condenses
between the pubis anteriorly, and the ischial spine to form the tendinous
arch to which the levator m.
of the pelvic floor are attached. Circulation
reaches the m. from laterally via the superior gluteal a., and the nerve is from the sacral plexus (L5-S1).
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