What is the sciatic nerve?
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The sciatic nerve is called the sciatic nerve. Gray's Anatomy (1918) describes it as the largest nerve in the body.
Summary
The sciatic nerve is called the sciatic nerve. Gray's Anatomy (1918) describes it as the largest nerve in the body.
What it is
- The largest nerve in the body.
- About the width of a thumb at its origin.
- Supplies most of the muscles and skin of the lower limb.
Where it is
- Arises from the lower spinal nerves in the pelvis.
- Passes out through the greater sciatic notch of the hip bone.
- Runs down the back of the thigh and divides above the knee into the tibial and common peroneal nerves.
Sources
According to Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body (1918, public domain):
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